Tamara Horacek’s journey in the France team looks much more like a roller coaster than a long calm river. From a start with a bang, with an Olympic silver medal in Rio in 2016, a competition in which she only played a few minutes in the final against Russia to replace a Chloé Bulleux package, to another silver award five years later at the World Championships, the Franco-Croatian has meanwhile had an eventful journey to say the least. But who has never taken away the beautiful smile she wears in any situation, and which she proudly claims: “I think that when something is wrong, not everyone needs to know about it. Everyone has their problems, but in a group life, you have to know how to put them aside. A smile is free and it gives strength to others. I don’t pretend to smile, I really am like that. I like to encourage my teammates, to listen to others.
A remarkable state of mind, combined with a certain talent and genetics that have worked at full capacity – she who is the daughter of former Croatian international Vesna Horacek –, which should have allowed her to become completely essential in the France team. Alas, it was nothing. The fault, in particular, of a serious knee injury which made him miss Euro 2018, won by his partners. But also to a departure, during the summer of 2017, for Paris which will have been slow to bear fruit, leaving her on the sidelines during the world title of Les Bleues won the same year. In fact, without knowing it, the one who had decided to take French nationality at the age of 18 had just seen the blue TGV slip away from under her nose. And when she was on the adventure, the timing was once again not good since she found herself competing in the President’s Cup – a sort of consolation cup for teams eliminated in the 1st round) – during a chaotic 2019 World Cup for France.
Until the 2021 World Cup where she finally managed to take the right car. This coincided with her return to Metz, after a delicate experience abroad, in the Hungarian club of Siofok, which she left because of the financial problems encountered by it. A badly negotiated departure, which earned her a year of suspended suspension from the EHF for having signed up with the Lorraine team while she was still under contract with Siofok. But in Metz, her training club, where her mother had played from 2004 to 2010, Tamara Horacek is struggling to win. So much so that in early December 2022, she made the decision to announce her departure for Nantes. Seven months before the end of the season. An assumed choice. “It’s a big bet, which I took in consultation with coach Olivier Krumbholz. I spoke to him about it before making my decision because I did not want to deprive myself of the Olympic Games. And then you have to remember that when I signed, I didn’t have much playing time in Metz. It’s only since I announced my future departure that I was given the keys, which finally confirmed my choice. I worked like hell for a year and a half to get them and it was frustrating to see how long it had taken. And today, I am supported by the staff of the France team and I am serene about my choice.
A bet all the more important as by his own admission, the 27-year-old center half had just completed a successful second half of the season. “On a personal level, I think this is one of the most successful seasons of my career. I felt good, whether in selection or in club. I am satisfied with what I have produced and I can’t wait to continue.” And the young woman added about her future destination in Nantes: “I like the challenges in life, because it spice things up. I work a lot in relation to this to question myself, to put myself in difficulty and see how I am able to bounce back. There, I signed in a club which is gaining momentum but obviously we are going to lose more matches than with Metz. But it’s a challenge that I enjoy. Nantes will grant me a status that suits me, because I need to assume my responsibilities, my role if I want to settle in the France team.
Arrived at handball almost by chance, because at the age of 6 she was too young to start volleyball, a discipline which had her preference, Tamara Horacek then never left the courts. “But this choice was not linked to my mother,” she recalls. Even if, since then, the student has surpassed the master. “She told me already, but I don’t agree because she won a Champions League and not me,” she says. While acknowledging having passed a milestone this year. “During the workshops in March and April, I had feedback from some people who said to me: Tamara, you took on another dimension.” And the future Nantes to continue: “The coach had a clear vision of my shortcomings: he told me that I had to win in playing time and in regularity of performance. That’s what I did in the second half of last season with Metz. Admittedly, I didn’t score ten goals per game, which was never my strength or my role. So, I want to say now that I only need time to express myself because I proved things with my club in the best competition that exists: the Champions League. I demonstrated that I was stable, that I could lead a team on the ground, which is what my position requires. Defensively, I am very complete. So if I’m given my chance, I feel ready to take it.”
This Saturday, almost a year before the Olympic Games in Paris, France will challenge Norway at home. A simple friendly match which will however launch a very important year, with a World Cup (November 29 to December 17) before the Olympic high mass (July 20-August 20, 2024). “Every day, I have the impression that the Games are tomorrow, so many people talk to me about it,” she admits. “And by force, it entered my head. In the morning when I get up and go for a run, I have the 2024 Games in mind. I tell myself that I am preparing for this, not for the season to come. The next World Championship should allow us to take a step forward on the offensive level, to validate the work done. This is really the major project implemented. And obviously, we are not going to such a competition to do extra work. The goal will be to maintain our confidence a few months before the Games by reaching at least the last four.
Two competitions in which she wants to play a more important role than until now, despite the competition for her position from Grace Zaady and Méline Nocandy, the latter being however injured. “Yes, I have a different role. I am a very calm person, and I have to bring serenity to the team when everyone is a little too excited. Especially since she has a special bond with Olivier Krumbholz. “I have a very special relationship with Olivier because he knew me when I was 8 years old in Metz. His wife trained me. In the group, I am one of the only ones to address him as you say. I run a lot on respect, and I know he respects me. Even though I didn’t always have the playing time that I would have liked to have, he always supported me and told me that I was important. This is also how I built myself. Just because I’m not playing doesn’t mean I’m going to be pissed off. You have to help your teammates on a daily basis. I really have a good relationship with him and we can talk openly.
