Nikola Karabatic: 'The pain became too much'

How did the operation go?
Nikola Karabatic: "It went well. I had complete confidence in the medical staff. But we will only really know that things went well when I start running and playing handball again with less or even no pain."

Was it tough to decide to go under the knife? 
"The pain had become so strong that it was impossible to play or train. It started in December 2016, so I've been dealing with it for a while now. In conjunction with doctors from the club and the France team, we managed it, but I had to grit my teeth. Last season, it went pretty well up until the Final4, when the pain returned. So I had to play the final matches of the season for club and country while dealing with a significant obstacle. We had thought that with some holidays and rest, the pain would dissipate… but when this season began, it was still there. Despite the best efforts of the club doctors, surgery was the only option - especially as the surgeon said the problem would quickly get worse if we didn't take some kind of action."

You will be out of action for about four to six months, which means you will miss the World Championships in Denmark and Germany. We imagine you're pretty disappointed…
"It's tough and very disappointing… I tried, I gritted my teeth on many occasions, but sadly it wasn't enough! This will be the first international tournament I've missed with Les Bleus. It will be hosted in Denmark and Germany, real handball countries, and it will also serve as Olympic qualifiers. It's tough to have to forego all of that. At the same time, I knew that if I chose to have surgery, I would miss out on the tournament. Worse, if I had continued to play, I could have aggravated my condition and perhaps ruined my career. I'm very sad to miss out on a lot of things and to not be able to be there with my friends and teammates in January. But I wouldn't have been able to play properly and I would have been a dead weight for the team."

So what does the road to recovery look like? 
"For this kind of injury, there is no real protocol in place for a high-level athlete. I have complete faith in the club's medical staff and I believe they will find the best path for me. Right now, the priority is to recover functionality in my foot without being plagued by pain. I can't just play through the pain as I have done with other injuries. Of course I want to be back in action as soon as possible, but in consultation with the club, I'm not taking any risks. And if we have to wait a bit longer until I'm ready to go, then that won't be a problem. The main thing is to have found a solution that will put this injury in the past once and for all."