Luc Abalo

Last updated

Luc Abalo
Luc Abalo PSG Handball.jpg
Abalo in 2013
Personal information
Born (1984-09-06) 6 September 1984 (age 40)
Ivry-sur-Seine, France
Nationality French
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Playing position Right wing
Senior clubs
YearsTeam
1998–2008
 US Ivry Handball
2008–2011
 BM Ciudad Real
2011–2012
 Atlético Madrid
2012–2020
 Paris Saint-Germain
2020–2021
 Elverum Håndball
2021–2023
 Zeekstar Tokyo
National team
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2005–2021
 France 289 (859)
Medal record
Olympic Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2008 Beijing Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2012 London Team
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2020 Tokyo Team
Silver medal icon (S initial).svg 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team
World Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2009 Croatia
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2011 Sweden
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2017 France
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2019 Germany/Denmark
European Championship
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2006 Switzerland
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2010 Austria
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2014 Denmark
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2008 Norway
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2018 Croatia

Luc Kangny Abalo (born 6 September 1984) is a French retired handball player. [1] He was inducted into the EHF Hall of Fame in 2024. [2]

Contents

Being a member of the national team from 2005, he won gold medals at the 2008, 2012 and 2020 Olympics, 2009, 2011 and 2017 World and 2006, 2010 and 2014 European championships. [3] He was named the French Division 1 Player of the Year in 2007, and the league's Best Right Wing in 2005, 2006 and 2007. In 2008 he received the Legion of Honour. [4] [5]

Abalo is an accomplished graphical artist. Upon a request from the French Olympic Committee he designed a wristband popularizing the Paris' bid for the 2024 Summer Olympics. Approximately 1.5 million copies were sold in September 2015. [4] [6]

Abalo is an officer of the Ordre national du Mérite [7] and of the French Legion of Honour. [8]

Career

Luc Abalo in 2010 during a game for the French national team FRA vs HUN (01) - 2010 European Men's Handball Championship.jpg
Luc Abalo in 2010 during a game for the French national team

Abalo signed his first profesional contract at his hometown club US Ivry Handball in 2005. In his first season the team finished fourth in the top French league and reached the Cup final. In the 2006-07 season he won the French league. He was selected for the French league all star team as the right wing in 2005, 2006 and 2007. He joined Spanish side BM Ciudad Real in 2008 after originally planning to join them in 2007.

Here he won the Spanish championship and EHF Champions League in 2009, and the Spanish championship in 2010. In 2010-2011 he had a less succesful season, where the team only won the Copa del Rey. The following summer he was rumored to join THW Kiel in Germany, because Ciudad Real had economic issues. [9] Instead he stayed and transferred with the team to Atlético Madrid. [10]

In 2012 he returned to France and joined Paris Saint-Germain. [11] Here he won the French league in 2013 and every season from 2015 to 2020, and the French cup in 2014, 2015 and 2018.

In 2020 he did announced his retirement from handball after the 2020 Olympics [12] , but reconsidered when the Olympics where postponed until 2021. [13] But since PSG had already found a replacement for him in Ferran Solé, Abalo had to find a new club. Therefore he joined Norwegian team Elverum Håndball. [14] Here he won the 2020 Norwegian cup and the 2021 Norwegian championship. After the 2021 World Championship in Egypt he could not return to Norway due to Covid-19 restrictions and only participated in the Champions League matches.

In September 2021 he joined Japanese side Zeekstar Tokyo. [15] He retired in 2023. [16]

National team

Luc Abalo debuted for the senior French national team in 2005 against Turkey. [17]

He has won both World Championship, European Championship and Olympic tournament. Between 2010 and 2013 he held all three major international tournaments.

He retired from the national team in 2021 after the 2020 Olympics (held in 2021). [18]

Titles

Club

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BM Ciudad Real</span> Spanish handball club

Balonmano Ciudad Real was a Spanish handball team based in Ciudad Real, Castilla La Mancha. BM Ciudad Real plays in Liga ASOBAL.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jérôme Fernandez</span> French handball player (born 1977)

Jérôme Fernandez is a French handball coach and former handball player. He was a captain of the France men's national handball team and currently holds the record for the number of goals for France's national team. He is in the French handball Hall of Fame..

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Didier Dinart</span> French handball player (born 1977)

Didier Dinart is a French retired handball player and current coach of US Ivry Handball and the Montenegro national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ivano Balić</span> Croatian handball player (born 1979)

Ivano Balić is a Croatian former professional handballer who is currently part of the coaching staff at RK Split. Renowned for his speed, creativity, movement and charisma as a player, Balić won the 2003 World Championship and the Olympic gold medal in 2004 with the Croatian national team, and thirteen titles playing for clubs in Croatia, Spain and Germany. He also earned two World Championship silver medals, two European Championship silver medals and one bronze medal, and one Olympic bronze medal (2012) with the national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mirza Džomba</span> Croatian handball player (born 1977)

Mirza Džomba is a Croatian former professional handball player, World champion in 2003 and Olympic champion in 2004.

Petar Metličić is a Croatian former handball player. He was captain of the Croatian national team from 2006 to 2009, after the departure of Slavko Goluža. He won the gold medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens as well as at the 2003 World Championship in Portugal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Niklas Landin Jacobsen</span> Danish handball player (born 1988)

Niklas Landin Jacobsen is a Danish handballer for Aalborg Håndbold.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thierry Omeyer</span> French handball player (born 1976)

Thierry Omeyer is a retired French handball goalkeeper.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rubén Garabaya</span> Spanish handball player (born 1978)

Rubén Garabaya is a Spanish former handball player and current handball coach. He was on the Spanish team that won the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship in Tunisia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raúl González (handballer)</span> Spanish handball player (born 1970)

Raúl González Gutiérrez is a Spanish retired handball player who competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics and current coach of Paris Saint-Germain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viran Morros</span> Spanish handball player (born 1983)

Viran Morros de Argila is a retired Spanish handball player. He is regarded as one of the best defensive players of his time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sander Sagosen</span> Norwegian handball player (born 1995)

Sander Sagosen is a Norwegian professional handball player for Kolstad Håndball and the Norwegian national team. At club level, he has won major titles in four countries, including league championships in Norway, Denmark, France and Germany. With the national team, Sagosen placed second at the World Championship in 2017 and 2019, and finished third at the 2020 European Championship. Sagosen was included on the All-Star team for five consecutive major international competitions as either best centre back or left back.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harald Reinkind</span> Norwegian handball player (born 1992)

Harald Reinkind is a Norwegian professional handball player for THW Kiel and the Norwegian national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alex Dujshebaev</span> Spanish handball player (born 1992)

Alex Dujshebaev Dobichebaeva is a Spanish handball player for Industria Kielce and the Spanish national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chema Rodríguez (handballer)</span> Spanish handball player and coach (born 1980)

José María Rodríguez Vaquero, commonly known as Chema Rodríguez, is a Spanish handball coach and former player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Andreas Palicka</span> Swedish handball player (born 1986)

Andreas Miroslav Palicka is a Swedish professional handball player for Paris Saint-Germain and the Swedish national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Gottfridsson</span> Swedish handball player (born 1992)

Jim Gottfridsson is a Swedish handball player for SG Flensburg-Handewitt and the Swedish national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rolando Uríos</span> Spanish handball player (born 1971)

Rolando Uríos is a Cuban-Spanish former handball player, who played for both the Cuban national team and the Spanish national team. He was considered one of the best pivots in the world in the first years of the 2000's.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eric Johansson (handballer)</span> Swedish handball player (born 2000)

Eric Oscar Johansson is a Swedish professional handball player for THW Kiel and the Swedish national team.

Tobias Schjølberg Grøndahl is a Norwegian handball player for GOG Håndbold and the Norwegian national team.

References

  1. ↑ EHF profile
  2. ↑ "New legends of the game inducted into EHF Hall of Fame". European Handball Federation . Retrieved 28 January 2025.
  3. ↑ "XI European Championship 2014. Team Roster, France" (PDF). handball.sportresult.com. EHF. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  4. 1 2 Luc Abalo. nbcolympics.com
  5. ↑ Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Luc Abalo". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020.
  6. ↑ Jean-François Fournel (2 September 2015) Le handballeur Luc Abalo a créé le symbole de « Paris JO 2024 ». la-croix.com
  7. ↑ "Cérémonie de remise de décorations aux médaillés Olympiques de Londres" (in French). legiondhonneur.fr. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  8. ↑ "Décret du 8 septembre 2021 portant promotion et nomination dans l'ordre national de la Légion d'honneur" (in French). legifrance.gouv.fr. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  9. ↑ "Sprungwunder zum THW?". archiv.thw-handball.de (in German). THW Kiel. 27 June 2011. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  10. ↑ Archived (Date missing) at sport1.de (Error: unknown archive URL)
  11. ↑ "Endlich zurück in Frankreich: Abalo unterschreibt in Paris" [Finally back in France: Abalo signs with Paris] (in German). Handball-world.
  12. ↑ "Luc Abalo (PSG) : « J'envisage d'arrêter en 2020 »" (in French). L'Équipe. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2020..
  13. ↑ "«Je reviens sur ma décision d'arrêter», annonce Luc Abalo" (in French). Le Parisien. 13 April 2020. Retrieved 30 May 2020..
  14. ↑ "Transfer-Überraschung: Luc Abalo wechselt nach Norwegen" [Transfer surprise:Luc Abalo transfers to Norway] (in German). handball-world.news. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  15. ↑ "Signed with Luc Abalo, the legend of France's handball team". re-how.net. Retrieved 17 September 2021.
  16. ↑ "Dreifacher Olympiasieger Luc Abalo beendet Handball-Karriere" [Three times Olympic Champioin Luc Abalo retires] (in German). handball-world.news. Retrieved 14 February 2023.
  17. ↑ "Olympic Games Tokyo 2020" (PDF). ihf.info. International Handball Federation . Retrieved 1 July 2021.
  18. ↑ "Elverum with the drive to break top-six barrier". ehfcl.eurohandball.com. European Handball Federation . Retrieved 4 August 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.