How many active athletes are thinking of going for an Olympic gold medal as they celebrate their 40th birthday? What is certain is that they are rare. Very rare. Even LeBron James is only 39 years old, he will celebrate his 40th birthday in December. Nikola Karabatic celebrates his 40th birthday this April 11.
To honor his extraordinary career and while he will retire from the stage in a few months, perhaps on the evening of a new Olympic final, we have chosen, to celebrate his four decades of existence, to remember 10 numbers, 10 images, 10 of his sentences and 10 tributes from his loved ones. And when it comes to numbers, Nikola Karabatic is clearly a UFO.
3. The number of times he was voted best player in the world in 2007, 2014 and 2016. He holds with his friend and former Parisian Mikkel Hansen (2011, 2015, 2018) the record for the number of “world player” distinctions. the year.”
7. The clubs he played for during his career. Nikola Karabatic started handball in 1990 in Colmar (1990-1992) then in Frontignan (1992-2002). He began his professional career in Montpellier (2002-2005 then 2009-2013) before continuing it in Kiel (2005-2009), Aix (February-June 2013) and Barcelona (2013-2015). He has played for PSG since 2015.
11. His gold medals with the French team: three at the Olympic Games (2008, 2012, 2021), four at the Worlds (2009, 2011, 2015, 2017) and four others in the European Championship (2006, 2010 , 2014, 2024). An impressive collection to which we can add two silver medals (at the 2016 Olympics and the 2023 World Cup) and four bronze medals (2005 and 2019 World Cup and Euro 2008 and 2018).
21. His national champion titles in almost 23 years of career in three different countries (Germany, Spain and France). He won seven French championship titles with Montpellier (four between 2002 and 2005 then between 2010 and 2012), eight with PSG (2016 to 2023), four in Germany with Kiel between 2006 and 2009 and two with Barcelona in 2013 and 2015. With Paris, he could end the season with a 16th championship title, an absolute record in French team sport. The only season that Karabatic did not win was during his interlude in Aix (February-June 2013) after the betting affair linked to the Cesson-Montpellier match in May 2012 which resulted in him being sentenced to two months in prison. suspended prison sentence and 10,000 euros fine.
27. The number of competitions he played with the Blues. Since his first World Cup in 2003 in Portugal, a tournament in which he did not play, he has participated in 27 major competitions with the French team: five Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2021 ), eleven World Championships and eleven European Championships. Colossal.
40. His age obviously. However, he is not the oldest player in the French Championship. Yann Genty, Saran’s goalkeeper and 2020 Olympic champion, his former teammate at PSG (2020-2022), is 42 years old. In the Champions League, Plock’s Bosnian left-back Mirsad Terzic is 9 months older than him.
70. We cannot guarantee not to have forgotten one on the way because even he who must not know the exact number. This is the number of trophies that Karabatic has won between the gold medals with the Blues, the domestic titles and the national cups in France, Germany and Spain as well as the various champions trophies, the super cups, League cups and we move on. He won at least once every competition he participated in.
356. His selections for the French team since the first, on November 2, 2002 in Gothenburg, Sweden, for a France-Russia. He is the 5th most capped international in history behind Jackson Richardson (417), Jérôme Fernandez (390), Didier Dinart (379) and Thierry Omeyer (358) whom he will soon overtake. If France goes to the final of the Games and if he does not miss a single match between now and then between preparation and the tournament, Nikola Karabatic should end his career around 368 caps.
1209. The number of official matches he played during his career before his 40th birthday between those of the Blues and all those in clubs (853). Outside of the French team, the jersey he has worn most often is that of PSG since 2015: 331 times in all competitions. He played 235 times for Montpellier.
1293. His goals for the French team: he is the second scorer in the history of the Blues behind Jérôme Fernandez and his 1463 goals between 1997 and 2015. He has thus averaged 3.63 goals scored per match for almost 22 years.
