The scenery was as grandiose as his career. Nikola Karabatic was about to say goodbye to handball at the end of the Olympics, and the final stages of the tournament were played in Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille, a stadium with more than 27,000 spectators in it. Secretly, the French player wanted to end his career with a fourth Olympic title.
But the tournament went badly for France. Norway and Denmark beat them in the preliminary round, and in the quarter-finals they met Germany, a young team with nothing much to lose. The game was not as tight as expected. Led by Dika Mem, France took the advantage up to six goals at the start of the second half.
However, things did not go France’s way. David Späth made a couple of saves and Germany got themselves back into the game in the last minute. Dika Mem lost the ball and Renārs Uščins scored the equaliser before destroying his opponents’ dreams with a few seconds to play, backed up as Späth stopped Valentin Porte’s desperate attempt. Germany were on their way to the silver medal, while Nikola Karabatic finished his career empty-handed.