Piejos steps away from international handball
Piejos steps away from international handball
Katty Piejos, the French right winger, has announced that she will bring an end to her international career.
After more than 80 caps and nearly 200 goals scored, this announcement took everyone by surprise since the Metz player was returning to form after suffering a knee injury last season.
She told Olivier Krumbholz, the national team coach, her decision before he announced his squad for the next Golden League series.
Looking back on her career with the national team, she has mixed emotions.
"My best memory was at the World Championship in 2009, when we got a medal," Piejos told Le Républicain Lorrain.
“Even if it was a silver one, it remains the best memory I've got with the national team.
“But ending on a bad note, like the ninth place we had at the last European Championships, well, that's not the best way to get out,"said Piejos.
She had many reasons that convinced her to end her international career, with her thoughts on life after handball.
"I want to focus on my future. At 32, time is going so fast, and I need to think about what I'm going to do when I stop handball.
“I'm not stopping totally though, I'm going to keep playing with Metz, even though I don't know where I'm going to play next season.
“I've got a lot of propositions but we will work it out when the season ends," concluded Piejos.
Olivier Krumbholz, the national coach, was the first one to react to this announcement.
"I find it very honest from her and I respect her decision. Now she's going to be able to focus on her club, where she stil has a lot of challenges ahead," said Krumbholz.
Katty Piejos intends to get a degree to become technical advisor on her native island of Martinique, so she can give some advice and detect new young players on her island, as well as sharing her experiences with them.
