The end clap for Luc Abalo.
The right winger with 289 caps in Blue, one of the pillars of the generation of Experts, was already thinking about quitting before the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, postponed for a year because of the pandemic, where he won the third title. Olympic of his career.
It was a bit by chance that he found himself in November 2021 in Japan, a country that has always attracted him, to join the young and ambitious club Zeekstar Tokyo, with which he returned for a second season and will aim for the title of champion of the local league in the play-offs in mid-March.
Before finally hanging up.
"
My goal is to give them that touch of madness that will allow them to believe
" in victory, summarizes this 38-year-old balloon artist, already turned towards "
the
To discover
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His atypical and often spectacular goals delight his Japanese teammates and coach, and Abalo would like to continue to advise Japanese handball "
so that it is followed abroad because it is a super interesting handball
".
Japan, “
Lucho
” finally visited it little, busy with his club and preparing for his second career, in particular by following online training, slipping that “
after handball, it's scary.
I put my eggs in several baskets.
Even before playing handball I was interested in drawing and painting, that will be the first way.
Then, photography, because I love it, it's linked to the art world
“says the one who set up a photo studio before the pandemic.
Fashion too, to develop his LAN brand - like Luc Abalo Nineteen, 19 being his jersey number in Blue.
“
And after that it's a little more secret.
I have a project around handball but I can't talk too much about it.
»
When we won I quickly moved on, but when we lost it worked for me for a long time.
Luke Abalo
Looking back on his long and prolific career with the Blues - 859 goals, three Olympic titles, three world champions and three European titles - Luc Abalo modestly says he "had the chance to come across this generation of super players but super
individuals too
".
Of all the memories of competitions, “
the most memorable moments are those that were the most difficult.
They worked for me a lot
”.
"
When we won I quickly moved on, but when we lost it worked for me for a long time
," he recalls, also referring to "
headaches
" between players and management.
But in the end, “
it's up to you to be better
”.
"
These things, I am happy to have experienced them and I hope that they will be useful to me afterwards.
»
The pride of being a role model
He explains that he drew his verve in the field from the encouragement of the public: “
When people give you compliments, it gives you one of these strengths.
"
I was the first black player from the suburbs to play for the France team
", says the native of Ivry-sur-Seine (Val-de-Marne), also his training club with which he won the championship in 2007. “
The chance that I had was that the guys from the estates with whom I grew up, when I ran into them, said to me: Luc, we're following you, you're our pride.
When I arrived at the competitions, I said to myself: I have to be good for them.
I really had to represent.
»
Read also "Imposter syndrome", "life lesson", "free man": the moving confidences of Abalo
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He says he has few regrets except that “
sometimes I would worry about things that weren't worth it.
That's my weakness, I think I was a little too emotional
.
"
Handball taught me to live with people, to open my vision to the world very early on, and to surpass myself, to question myself, when you lose, when you're not good, when you're shouted at. .
“Whatever happens, Luc Abalo now sees his future in France, where he is eager to find”
family and friends.
I realized here, when I was isolated, that it is the most important
”.
