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. A look back at ten photos that summarize the career of this outstanding player.
It all started in Montpellier 23 years ago
David Maugendre/Icon Sport
June 23, 2001. At the start of summer, no one is aware that this is the day that will change the face of handball. An 18-year-old young man enters during the match during the semi-final of the Coupe de France between Montpellier and Nîmes, which the Montpellier team won 29-13. Nikola Karabatic makes his first appearance among the pros alongside Thierry Omeyer, Jérôme Fernandez and Grégory Anquetil.
346 matches in Blue, it’s crazy
AFP/Bobbo Lauhage
November 2, 2002. Nikola Karabatic honored the first of his 346 caps for Sweden in Gothenburg against Russia in a match counting towards the late World Cup. A match that France won 25-23. Not initially summoned for this competition, he was called to fill the absence of François-Xavier Houlet who today comments on his matches for BeIN Sports.
The Karabatic are also siblings
LP/Philippe Lavieille
January 27, 2024. The Karabatic are also and perhaps even above all a united brotherhood like few are. Luka Karabatic was also born in April but on the 19th and 4 years after his glorious elder. They have played together at PSG since 2015 and in the French team for more than 10 years. If Nikola is the boss, the captain remains Luka captain of both PSG and the Blues. The two brothers have won everything together, except the Champions League.
In 2005, he crossed the Rhine
Action Press/Icon Sport
September 10, 2005. In France, Nikola Karabatic has already won everything at 21 years old. He decided to join one of the biggest clubs in the world, THW Kiel under the orders of his mentor, a family friend, coach Noka Serdarusic, whom he found 10 years later at PSG. In Germany, he won a new Champions League and was voted best player in the world before returning to France in 2007.
A man (almost) like the others
DR
February 5, 2021. Some champions live on another planet, inaccessible by will or force of circumstances. Not him: with a little luck, we can bump into Nikola Karabatic at the local supermarket. A committed citizen, particularly here for the restaurants of the heart and a large chain of discount stores, he is a champion and a man like any other. Or almost.
Three Olympic gold medals is crazy
AFP/Philippe Huguen
August 24, 2008. The final of the Beijing Olympic tournament pits France against Iceland. In the final phase, the Blues beat Russia in the quarter-finals then Croatia in the semi-finals to dream of gold. Claude Onesta’s players did not tremble in the final to win 28-23. Nikola Karabatic is Olympic champion at 24 years old. It will be again four years later in London and in 2021 in Tokyo. Waiting for Paris 2024.
A huge American football fan
DR
March 28, 2019. Under the helmet, it is indeed Nikola Karabatic. The three-time Olympic champion has an immense passion for American football. During the season, he does not miss a match and if PSG plays on Sunday, he brings the team together in the basement of Coubertin to watch the evening’s match. One of his first desires, once he retires, will be to go see a match in the United States.
He has performed in France, Germany and Spain
AFP/Marius Becker
August 30, 2013. After the French Championship, the Bundesliga, the betting affair and a 6-month freelance in Aix-en-Provence, Karabatic heads to Spain. The biggest club in the world wants him and he is heading to Barcelona. There are two years left in Catalonia, expanding its record with two Spanish championship titles and a new – and last to date – Champions League, in 2015.
PSG becomes “his” club forever
LP/Olivier Lejeune
May 8, 2023. For nine years, Nikola Karabatic has played for PSG. Today he calls himself a “PSGian” for life. He also adopted Parisian life. He comes to training at the Pierre-de-Coubertin stadium (16th century) on foot or by bike, never by car. The environment and the preservation of the planet are part of its daily concerns.
Triumphs under the gold of the Republic
Abaca/Icon Sport
January 28, 2024. Throughout his career filled with triumphs galore, Nikola Karabatic has often been received at the Élysée by the various Presidents of the Republic in place since its beginnings. Knight of the Legion of Honor, he passed through the doors of the Palace again in January the day after his European coronation with the Blues.
