A major figure in French handball bows out. At 40, Nîmes winger Michaël Guigou has decided to retire at the end of this season, which officially ended on Wednesday evening with the 30th day of Starligue.
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22 seasons later… The legend Michaël Guigou? pic.twitter.com/AiQHRqiVzY
– National Handball League (@LNHofficiel) June 7, 2022
Montpellier, 20 years of success
Before joining Nîmes in 2019, Michaël Guigou played for twenty seasons with Montpellier, his favorite club. Arrived in 1999 at the age of 17 to finish his training, he will become one of the world references in the position of winger. His attachment to the Montpellier jersey will push him to reject all solicitations from abroad during his career.
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Michaël Guigou in the Montpellier jersey in 2003. © Photo: Dominique Faget / AFP archives
In the Hérault, “Mika” has forged one of the best records in French handball. He won a total of 10 French championship titles, 11 French Cups, 10 League Cups and 2 Champions Trophy, notably achieving a historic quadruple in the 2011-2012 season. An exceptional domestic record reinforced by his success on the European scene where he won the Champions League twice (2003 and 2018).
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In May 2018, Michaël Guigou raised the second Champions League of his career with Montpellier. © Photo: Patrik Stollarz / AFP archives
A legend of the Blues
But his legend, it is especially under the jersey of the France team that the left winger wrote it. Taulier des Bleus with nineteen seasons spent under the tricolor tunic, Guigou is the eighth most capped French player (307 games).
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Michaël Guigou, on May 31, 2008, scored against Spain in a preparation match for the Beijing Olympics. © Photo: Stephane De Sakutin / AFP Archives
He started in selection in 2002 and played his first major competition during the 2004 Olympic Games where France was eliminated in 2004.
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Michaël Guigou against Hungary at the Athens Olympics in August 2004. © Photo: Marco Longari / AFP archives
A failure that precedes (very) many titles. In Blue, Guigou has created an extraordinary record: three Olympic titles (2008, 2012, 2021), an Olympic silver medal (2016), four world titles (2009, 2011, 2015, 2017) and three European titles ( 2006, 2010, 2014).
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Michaël Guigou, bottom left, celebrates with the Blues their victory against Croatia (24-19) at the 2009 world championships. © Photo: Attila Kisbenedek / AFP archives
Successes acquired with two generations: that of the “Strong”, then with the “Experts”.
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Michaël Guigou, in the center, with the gold medal of the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo, accompanied by his teammates “Experts” Luc Abalo (on the left) and Nikola Karabatic (on the right). © Photo: Franck Fife / AFP
The bar of 1000 goals in the French team
With 1021 goals scored between 2002 and 2021 in the jersey of the France team, Michaël Guigou has risen to third place among the top scorers in the history of the Blues. He is only preceded by Nikola Karabatic (1238) and Jérôme Fernandez (1463).
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?? Michaël GUIGOU became facing the ???? the 4th player to exceed 1?0?0?0? goals in selection??
1. J.FERNANDEZ (1463 goals)
2. N.KARABATIC (1210 goals)
3. F.VOLLE (1016 buts)
4. M. GUIGOU (1000 goals)#ProudCornflower pic.twitter.com/kIsd63vRXz— France Handball Teams (@FRAHandball) April 28, 2021
In club, he will have exceeded the bar of 2000 achievements in all competitions, including 1984 with Montpellier. With 1384 goals, he is the fifth best scorer in the history of the French championship. A handball legend retires.
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?C?e?t? ?h?o?m?m?e?
This legend will play his last professional match tonight!So, #MerciMika ??
?? Handball pic.twitter.com/pZb6LXkoyK
— National Handball League (@LNHofficiel) June 8, 2022
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