Paris (AFP)

Nikola Karabatic, Olympic gold medalist for the third time with the French handball team in Tokyo in August, told coach Guillaume Gille of his wish to continue playing with the Blues, he said on Friday. to AFP.

"Guillaume called me last week. We discussed it and I told him that I did not want to stop the France team for the moment. We were on the same wavelength", explained the half -centre or left rear of 37 years.

Victim of a serious injury to the right knee (rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament) in October 2020 during a match with his club, Paris Saint-Germain, Nikola Karabatic had returned to competition in time to participate in the Games and live a first Olympic coronation alongside his brother Luka (33), pivot of the Blues.

In Japan, the former player of Montpellier, Kiel, Aix-en-Provence and FC Barcelona participated in his fourth consecutive Olympic final, after two gold medals in 2008 and 2012 and a silver medal in 2016.

The victory against Denmark (25-23), defending champion, marked the return of the France team to the top of world handball after several years without a title.

Like Nikola Karabatic, wingers Luc Abalo and Michaël Guigou, members of the “Experts” generation, also won Olympic gold for the third time.

But If Abalo and Guigou have decided to put an end to their international career, the eldest of the Karabatic brothers intends to continue the adventure without planning for several years.

"I'm going to do as I always do: I set myself challenges for the season. There, now, it is with PSG the resumption of the championship then with the French team, there will be the Euro in January. And what there is later, I do not even think about it because it is useless. I do not know where I will be at that moment ", explained the player, to whom it remains a year of contract with PSG.

Nikola Karabatic crowned Olympic handball champion with the Blues in Tokyo, August 7, 2021 Franck FIFE AFP / Archives

What about the Paris Games in 2024?

"For the moment, it is irrelevant to me. Three years is so long. I do not know where I will be in three years," he replies.

In addition to his three gold medals at the Games, Nikola Karabatic won seven other titles with the Blues, including four World Championships (2009, 2011, 2015, 2017) and three European Championships (2006, 2010, 2014).

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