"I must learn to renounce" (1)

Gold medal in Beijing, Champions League winner and a „flood“ of other titels: Nikola Karabatic feels like the most happy handball player in the world. But the 24 years old player finds borders at the height of his fame. In an exclusive interview for Handball Magazin, the Player of the Year talks about THW Kiel, physical „explatation“ and his family ties.

In Schönkirchen, some kilometers away from Kiel, the stars from THW take regularly care of them in a spa. They relaxe after the game against Großwallstadt. And lift a couple of dumb-bell. The Olympic Champion Nikola Karabatic (24) must spectate at it. The French is injured and in the same time bothered by inflamed tonsils. But he allows himself a short run workout. He must get fit for the next fights for the title.

HM: How does your body feel?
Karabatic: I am OK, only my right elbow is problematic. I must undergo surgery, on short- or intermediate-term.

HM: What´s wrong with it?
Karabatic: Small globule from articulation have been taken out for a half an year, but the splintering was not done on the bone, so that I could be able to play again in four weeks. At that time we had many injured players and I had to come back quickly on the field. And that´s why I have a fracture in the elbow now. A surgey after the Oympic Games would have meant two months break and we didn´t want it...How long I am able to play, a season, a half of a season, I don´t know.

HM: Does this mean that you have to give up to the World Championships in Croatia? Or that the THW will impose you to not participate?
Karabatic: Either I must undergo surgery during the WCh or in the holiday of the 2009, but the last option would be not beautiful for me. Or before the next European Championships. I have no idea.

HM: Are you as a professional enough rational to think about a renunciation or your heart is too strong for it?
Karabatic: I don´t have problem with it. I will have to have a break sometime. When it will be it doesn´t matter, I only don´t want to risk my health for it.

HM: Are you maybe a bit glad of being injured at the beginning of this season in order to get a break for your head?
Karabatic: Yes, I surely am. I came after three years in the Bundesliga plus National Team and this sommer we had only 20 days of break. And after came the Olympics. It was really a lot. The free time is very good for me to be able to breath a little bit, more for the head as for the body.

HM: Was the Olympic Tournament in Beijing the biggest pressure you were confronted until now in your career?
Karabatic: That was the biggest that we could achive. I am glad that we won gold. This takes away the pressure.

HM: Which are the most distinctive moments from Olympics that you still have in your thoughts?
Karabatic: Oh, they are not many when I am in Germany. The people congratulate, but don´t talk a lot about it. In France it is different. There comes everything back in my mind. People there followed everything and they are very proud of us. I don´t have any particular images in my head, I try to imagine that we are Olympic Champion and this is very hard to realise. I still think that this is a dream.

HM: As a youngster you admired the French team World Champions from 1995. Your team is more successfull now as that from Jackson Richardson and his teammates.
Karabatic: We don´t make comparisons. The Crazy from 1995, the Strongs from 20001 and we, the Experts. We don´t give a damn about it, all we want is to win. I watched on TV the team from 1995, they had cool players like Richardson and Frédéric Volle. So I got appetite for handball. The fact that 13 years later I won gold in Beijing had to do also with the team from 1995. We are all one team, made of different generations. We reached the biggest for the French handball in Beijing and we are really famous for it, but we can´t compare the generations.

HM: „Really famous“ is minimised when as Olympic Champions you let yourself driven like the football World Champions 1998 on Champs-Élysées.
Karabatic: The football players were right after their game there, we were there two days after the final. There were less people, even if during the Olympics everybody watched the games and identified themselves with us. After all, we were the only French team in Beijing and for the French handball it was perfect. It was the right moment to achieve something great.

HM: Did the Prasident Nicolas Sarkozy become a handball fan?
Karabatic: It was truly remarkable for us to see what kind of people were interested in handball. All the athletes visited him, but only we, the handball players, obtained another reception. Who gets an Olympic gold, receives also a decoration, it means we did something for our country.

HM: And what about your appearance at Stade de France?
Karabatic: Together with the little Alexis I made the kick-off of WCh qualification game France – Serbia. It was for the Association ELA, who helps the children suffering from leukodystrophie, a illness characterized by progressive degeneration of the white matter of the brain. I am one of the ambassadors, like Zinedine Zidane also is.

HM: Does your everyday life pale in comparison with the great moments you lived this summer?
Karabatic: No, my everyday routine is not at all boring. I am truly glad to be again in Kiel, to see my teammates and to train with them. This is really cool.

HM: Best Handball Player of the World, Player of the Season – you are „bombarded“ with distinctions. Can you cope with it?
Karabatic: All the recognitions mean a lot to me. Every award brings with it an enormous honour and motivation. Player of the Year I was elected for the second time, by the coaches and team captains. This is something special for me. I am very ambitious and I want to be always the best, both in workouts and games. And my team must be the best. More beautiful as the distinctions are the team successes. There is no happier handball player in the world as me. I really live a dream.

HM: Are there still persons that you can admire in this dream?
Karabatic: There are a lot. Even if I got such individual titles, I don´t see mysels as the best. I must only see what Stefan Lövgren, who will be soon 38 years old, achives. Or Titi Omeyer in goal. Or Marcus Ahm as a pivot. I am still a youngster and I am very receptive when I meet big players. I still have time.

HM: But you have to be an adult soon.
Karabatic: It will go fast, but I still want to enjoy the youth. One day I will wake up, I will be 30 and I will be no boy anymore.

HM: Beginning already with the next year a lot of things could change. THW Kiel will need a new leader after Lövgren´s farewell the next summer.
Karabatic: I don´t know yet if this is a position for me. In Kiel everything will start from zero and I will see how the things will go this season. Besides, everyone in the team can assume his position, this will not be such a big problem.

HM: Did you accepted Alfred Gislason instead of Noka Serdarusic as coach? Or is it still an open wound?
Karabatic: Noka said that he wanted to stay an year more. And then, during the holiday, we heard that we get a new coach. It was a shock for me. But one learna how the sport is. I would have like to still train under Noka. We take it from zero now and I hope it will be well. Alfred seems to be a good coach and a good guy.

HM: Do you still feel the disappointment about Serdaruric´s dismissal?
Karabatic: Yes, I do, but one learns to repress such feelings. There is simply no place for disappointments. You have to look forward.

HM: Is Serdarusic completely out of your life?
Karabatic: No, we still keep in touch. Noka was and is important for me. He teached me a lot on the field and out of it. I will always keep in touch with him because he is a very good person and I have a very good relationship to him.