Niksa Kaleb

Nikša Kaleb (born 1973 in Metković, Croatia) is a Croatian former handball player who played as a left wing and won Olympic gold with Croatia at the 2004 Athens Games and the world title at the 2003 World Championship in Portugal.¹

Early years and club career in Metković

Kaleb began training handball at age 10 with RK Mehanika, the club now known as RK Metković, under his first coach Vinko Jurković.

He played continuously for Metković through the 1996/97 season. Back in Metković he became one of the pillars of a side that competed on the European stage. The club's greatest success came in 2000, when RK Metković Jambo won the EHF Cup, the European Handball Federation's second-tier competition, and the club added the Croatian Cup in 2001 and 2002.^{2 • 3} The European Handball Federation's competition record shows him representing Metković in the EHF Cup in 1999–2000 and 2000–01, the Champions League in 2001–02 and 2003–04, and the Cup Winners' Cup in 2002–03.⁴

Zagreb years and retirement

Before the 2004 Athens Olympics Kaleb transferred to RK Zagreb, playing there as Zagreb Croatia osiguranje, and he finished his playing career with the club in 2008.³ With Zagreb he won every national championship and cup from 2005 to 2008, four titles of each.² In European competition he appeared in the Champions League for Zagreb in 2004–05, 2005–06, 2006–07, and 2007–08, and in the Cup Winners' Cup in 2004–05 and 2006–07.⁴

National team

The Proleksis encyclopedia records 85 appearances and 164 goals for Croatia between 2001 and 2008; the statistics site PlaymakerStats lists 79 caps and 152 goals, a discrepancy between the two records.^{2 • 5}

Athens 2004

At the Athens tournament Kaleb played as a left wing in the Croatian team coached by Lino Červar that won the gold medal, the second Olympic gold for independent Croatia.^{1 • 6} PlaymakerStats credits him with 25 goals in 8 matches at the Games.⁵ In the group-stage match against South Korea, which Croatia won 29–26, he scored 7 goals on 11 shots in 54 minutes of play.⁷ Croatia beat Germany 26–24 in the final.⁸

Recognition and life after playing

As a member of the national team Kaleb received the State Award for Sport "Franjo Bučar" in 2004, Croatia's state sports award.³ He was also decorated with the Order of Duke Branimir with sash and the Order of the Croatian Morning Star with the image of Franjo Bučar.³

After retiring he turned a long-standing hobby into a profession and works as a professional diver, a member of the Croatian Diving Federation.⁹ He has also coached the younger cadets of RK Metković 1963 and worked as a handball commentator, including covering World Championship matches for RTL.¹⁰ In 2026 he appeared with his former national teammate Goran Šprem on the RTL adventure show Asia Express, and he takes part in humanitarian actions through the Croatian Olympic Club and the Croatian Athletes' Foundation, which raises money for athletes in financial hardship.⁹

References

1. Olympedia – Nikša Kaleb
2. Kaleb, Nikša – Proleksis enciklopedija
3. Nikša Kaleb – Hrvatska i olimpijska odličja (HOO)
4. European Handball Federation – Niksa Kaleb / Player
5. Niksa Kaleb – Player Profile & Stats, PlaymakerStats
6. Croatian Olympic Committee – 20 years of the Croatian Olympic Committee (Athens 2004)
7. Olympedia – Handball, Men – Match #7 (Croatia–South Korea, Athens 2004)
8. HRS – Na današnji dan: 16 godina od olimpijskog zlata u Ateni
9. Sportske novosti – Slavni hrvatski reprezentativci nastupili u popularnom TV-showu (Asia Express)
10. RTL – Nikša Kaleb o rukometnom prvenstvu i očekivanjima

Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Other team and ball sports › Basketball and court team sports › Handball › Croatian handball players

Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026

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