| Nikola Karabatić | |
| Nationality: | French |
| Birth Date: | 11 April 1984 |
| Birth Place: | Niš, SR Serbia, Yugoslavia |
| Height: | 1.96 m |
| Position: | Centre back |
| Years1: | 2000–2005 |
| Clubs1: | Montpellier Handball |
| Years2: | 2005–2009 |
| Clubs2: | THW Kiel |
| Years3: | 2009–2013 |
| Clubs3: | Montpellier Handball |
| Years4: | 2013 |
| Clubs4: | Pays d'Aix |
| Years5: | 2013–2015 |
| Clubs5: | FC Barcelona |
| Years6: | 2015–2024 |
| Clubs6: | Paris Saint-Germain |
| Nationalyears1: | 2002–2024 |
| Nationalteam1: | France |
| Nationalcaps1: | 356 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 1293 |
| Show-Medals: | no |
Nikola Karabatić (born 11 April 1984) is a French former professional handball player. He is regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history.[1]
With the French national handball team, he won three Olympic gold medals (Summer Olympics of 2008, 2012 and 2020), four World Championship gold medals (2009, 2011, 2015 and 2017) as well as four gold medals in the European Championship (2006, 2010, 2014 and 2024). He also won L'Équipe Champion of Champions in 2011.[2] He is regarded as one of the greatest players in handball history,[3] and he was IHF World Player of the Year for a male record-tying three times, in 2007, 2014, and 2016.
Karabatić began his professional career at the top French club Montpellier HB. There he became French champion in 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005 as well as winner of the EHF Champions League in 2003. He then played for the German club THW Kiel, who became German champions in 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009, and won the EHF Champions League in 2007. In the summer of 2009 he left Germany and returned to Montpellier HB, winning three further French champion titles in 2010, 2011 and 2012. After a quick stay in Pays d'Aix Université Club handball, Aix-en-Provence, between February and June in 2013, he moved to FC Barcelona and then in 2015 he moved to and currently plays for PSG Handball.
He is an Olympic, World and European champion. This makes eleven titles out of 17 medals won, which constitutes an absolute record.
He first became a European champion in the 2006 European Men's Handball Championship, subsequently becoming a bronze medallist in the 2008 edition of the championship (without forgetting 2018). He has received two more bronze medals at the World Championships, in 2005 and 2019. At the 2007 World Men's Handball Championship, he was voted into the All-Star Team in which France finished fourth. He was also voted into the All Star Team at the 2004 European Men's Handball Championship.
Nikola was born in Niš, SFR Yugoslavia, to a Croatian father and Serbian mother. Nikola's father Branko Karabatić, who was also a professional handball player, is originally from Vrsine, a village between Trogir and Marina in Croatia.[4] [5] [6] In his career, Branko played for the Železničar handball team from Niš, which is where he met his wife Radmila, who is originally from Aleksinac, Serbia.[7] The family moved to France after Nikola's father got a coaching job there when Nikola was years old. His younger brother, Luka, is also a professional handball player.[5]
On 30 September 2012, he was involved in match-fixing and was arrested alongside his wife and his brother Luka.[8] [9]
In addition to French and Serbo-Croatian, he speaks English, German and Spanish.
| Legend | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tnmt | Tournament | GP | Games played | Gls | Goals | ||
| Sh | Shots | G% | Goal percentage | 7G | 7-meter goals | ||
| 7S | 7-meter shots | As | Assists | AG | Assists and Goals | ||
| St | Steals | Bl | Blocks | 2M | 2 Minute Suspensions | ||
| RC | Red Cards | Pl | Placement of National Team | Bold | Career high | ||
| Led the Tournament | Tournament MVP | On All-Star Team | |||||
| Tnmt | GP | Gls | Sh | G% | 7G | 7S | As | AG | St | Bl | 2M | RC | Pl | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 EC | 7 | 35 | 71 | 49 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 56 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 6th | |
| 2004 OG | 7 | 20 | 39 | 51 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 36 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5th | |
| 2005 WC | 9 | 43 | 71 | 61 | 5 | 5 | 20 | 63 | 8 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 3rd | |
| 2006 EC | 8 | 40 | 72 | 56 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 54 | 10 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2007 WC | 10 | 50 | 86 | 58 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 74 | 13 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 4th | |
| 2008 EC | 8 | 44 | 89 | 49 | 7 | 14 | 26 | 70 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 3rd | |
| 2008 OG | 8 | 37 | 69 | 54 | 2 | 3 | 34 | 71 | 7 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2009 WC | 10 | 45 | 80 | 56 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 81 | 8 | 9 | 2 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2010 EC | 8 | 40 | 73 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 65 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2011 WC | 10 | 51 | 80 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 85 | 4 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2012 EC | 6 | 9 | 34 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 11th | |
| 2012 OG | 8 | 26 | 48 | 54 | 0 | 0 | 34 | 60 | 3 | 15 | 3 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2013 WC | 7 | 25 | 38 | 66 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 37 | 3 | 10 | 3 | 0 | 6th | |
| 2014 EC | 8 | 32 | 51 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 76 | 3 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2015 WC | 9 | 33 | 56 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 59 | 8 | 14 | 9 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2016 EC | 7 | 26 | 47 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 47 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 5th | |
| 2016 OG | 8 | 26 | 40 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 47 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2nd | |
| 2017 WC | 9 | 31 | 53 | 58 | 0 | 0 | 42 | 73 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2018 EC | 8 | 30 | 46 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 63 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | |
| 2019 WC | 6 | 4 | 15 | 27 | 0 | 0 | 15 | 19 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 3rd | |
| 2020 EC | 3 | 8 | 13 | 62 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 14th | |
| 2021 WC | Not in team | |||||||||||||
| 2020 OG | 8 | 22 | 34 | 65 | 0 | 0 | 29 | 51 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 1st | |
| 2022 EC | 8 | 15 | 36 | 42 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 37 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4th | |
| 2023 WC | 7 | 8 | 18 | 44 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 20 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2nd | |
| 2024 EC | 8 | 16 | 27 | 59 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 38 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1st | |