Suzana Lazović (born 28 January 1992) is a retired Montenegrin

handballer Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of thro ...

that played for

ŽRK Budućnost Podgorica ŽRK Budućnost is a professional women's handball team from Podgorica, Montenegro (previously, the club also appeared under the names ZRK Budućnost MONET, Budućnost Brillant, Budućnost Bemax and Budućnost Titograd). Among the numerous title ...

and the

Montenegro women's national handball team The Montenegro women's national handball team is the national team of Montenegro. It is governed by the Handball Federation of Montenegro and takes part in international handball competitions. History Montenegro's women's national ha ...

. She was also a Serbia and Montenegro national junior

judo is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyc ...

champion.

Handball and coaching career

Lazović was part of the Montenegrin teams that won silver at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

, and gold at the 2012 Women's EHF European Championship. She was also on the Budućnost team that won the 2012 EHF Women's Champions League and 2015 EHF Women's Champions League. The team were also runners up in the 2013-2014 season. Lazović won the award for best defender in the 2013 Champions League. Lazović participated at the

2011 World Women's Handball Championship The 2011 World Women's Handball Championship was the 20th edition of the international championship tournament in women's Team sport handball that is governed by the International Handball Federation (IHF). Brazil hosted the event from 2–18 De ...

in Brazil, but Montenegro did not progress from the group stages. Lazović had to retire at the age of 25 due to injuries, including a severely herniated disc, heart ablation and a neck injury, and moved into handball coaching. She coached the Montenegrin junior team. She then moved to China and coached their youth, junior and senior teams. During her reign, the Chinese junior team reached the last 16 of the IHF Women's Junior World Championship, for the first time in 33 years. She has also coached at club level with the Hungarian team, Alba Fehervar. Lazović was Montenegro's coach at the 2024 European handball championships, taking over from Bojana Popovic. Prior to their April 2025 match against Portugal, Lazović talked about 'rejuvenating the line up' of the team.

Judo career

Despite her success at handball, Lazović's original sport was judo. As a junior, she won the Serbia and Montenegro national championship. She signed her first professional contract at 16, for Budućnost. She played for them for her entire career.

References

1992 births Living people Montenegrin female handball players 21st-century Montenegrin sportswomen Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic handball players for Montenegro Olympic medalists in handball Olympic silver medalists for Montenegro Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Handball players from Podgorica Mediterranean Games medalists in handball Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Montenegro Handball players at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Montenegrin expatriate sportspeople in Hungary Montenegrin expatriate handball players in Hungary {{Montenegro-handball-bio-stub