Monday in Nanterre, Nikola Karabatic inaugurated a playground in the Pablo-Picasso district alongside his brother Luka and Thierry Omeyer, an operation organized by his sponsor Adidas. After exchanging passes with the neighborhood kids, the Paris-SG star explained his choice to return to the French team and discussed his future in the club.
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“At 37, you have just won a third Olympic gold medal, but you have decided to continue with the French team. What brought you to this decision?
I just felt like I didn’t want to stop. It’s a feeling that we have in ourselves: the fact of having fun, of feeling that we still have a little under the paw, the fact that the Tokyo Olympics went well, collectively and personally. I wanted to extend that until the end of the season. I also wanted to experience another competition with the public. Tokyo was great, but it was behind closed doors. To finish with a gold medal at the Olympic Games, it doesn’t get better, but for me, that’s not the point, it’s to have fun. The day I quit, I wish there was a bit of an audience, it would be cool if there was a bit more emotion.
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Your contract with Paris-SG ends in June 2022. The club wishes to keep you, can you confirm that you also wish to extend for one more year?
We’re talking to the club. When you are at the end of your career, you think about one more year, you see where you are during the season. We are discussing with Paris to see how to extend and how behind we could continue to work with the club after my career.
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“I want to cut the field every day. Maybe it will come back later when I miss the hand, but I have been training all my life, so when I stop I will want to take a breather ”
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Exactly, where are you thinking about after handball?
Technical positions are not something that immediately interests me. I want to cut through the terrain every day. Maybe it will come back later when I miss the hand, but I’ve been training my whole life, so when I stop I’ll want to take a breather. Afterwards, among the leaders, Titi (Thierry Omeyer) is already in post as general manager. There are avenues with the Foundation, the CSR side (social and environmental responsibility) at the club level as a whole, not just the handball section. We are also discussing with the Federation what can be done, because my club is not just PSG, it is also the France team. But I also want to leave me open doors, maybe do a little media, company interventions … I want to touch a bit of everything to see what I like and the areas in which I am competent. To train myself too, I would like to do the CDES (Center for Sports Law and Economics) from Limoges, graduate and see where it takes me. “
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