Though the 40-year-old will not bow out with another Olympic medal around his neck, the Frenchman leaves the sport as many fans' greatest ever player. That adoration and respect was displayed by the standing ovation given to him by 27,000 people at Lille's Stade Pierre-Mauroy after yesterday's 35:34 overtime defeat.
Born in Niš in present-day Serbia before moving to France as a three-year-old - every handball fan knows the origin story! He made his debut for France in 2002, played over 350 times and has long since passed the 1000-goal mark for Les Bleus.
Paris was his sixth Olympic games; after debuting in Athens, he reached an astonishing four Olympic finals, winning gold in Beijing, London and Tokyo, plus silver in Rio de Janeiro.
His EHF EURO and IHF World Championship records are better still, winning four golds in each, including a world title on home soil in 2017 and the EHF EURO 2024 title in Germany at the beginning of the year, his final international trophy.
In all, Karabatić won 17 major international medals of all colours for a nation that had only ever won four before he joined the national team.
His success was not limited to the international game, though; he won the EHF Champions League three times with three different clubs: Montpellier Handball in 2003, THW Kiel in 2007 and Barça in 2015. He also finished second in the competition three times, including with a fourth club, Paris Saint-Germain, in 2017.
Twice an IHF Super Globe winner, he accumulated no fewer than 22 national league titles in total in France, Germany and Spain, in addition to many domestic cup competitions.
Such a legend could not go by without picking up individual awards, too. He was named IHF World Player of the Year in 2007, 2014 and 2016, finishing in the top three on seven occasions, as well as landing the MVP award at two EHF EUROs and two World Championships.
"The end of my first life" is how Karabatić summed up his career coming to a close yesterday. If that is the case, we look forward to what the second has in store!
But for now, it's au revoir, Niko, merci et bravo!
Main photo © IHF / kolektiff images
