Gedeón Guardiola
Spanish handball player (born 1984)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Gedeón Guardiola Villaplana (born 1 October 1984) is a Spanish handballer for Club Balonmano Nava and the Spain national team.[2] He was on the Spanish team that won the 2013 World Championship.
| Gedeón Guardiola | |||
|---|---|---|---|
|
| |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Gedeón Guardiola Villaplana | ||
| Born |
1 October 1984 Petrer, Spain | ||
| Height | 2.00 m (6 ft 7 in) | ||
| Playing position | Pivot | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Club Balonmano Nava | ||
| Senior clubs | |||
| Years | Team | ||
1996–2001 | Petrer | ||
2001–2005 | Valencia | ||
2005–2008 | Teucro | ||
2008–2009 | Ciudad Logroño | ||
2009–2014 | San Antonio | ||
2014–2020 | Rhein-Neckar Löwen | ||
2020–2023 | TBV Lemgo | ||
2023–2024 | HC Erlangen | ||
2024- | Club Balonmano Nava | ||
| National team 1 | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2011- | Spain | 203[1] | (238) |
|
1 National team caps and goals correct as of 25 June 2024 | |||
He is a twin brother of Isaías Guardiola, also a handballer.[3]
Career
Gedeón Guardiola started playing handball at his home town club BM Petrer. From 2001 to 2005 he played for Valencia, where he made his senior debut in the 2002-03 season.[4] In 2005 he joined SD Teucro. In 2008-09 he played a single season for Ciudad Logroño, before joining SDC San Antonio. In total he played 208 games in Liga ASOBAL, scoring 437 goals.[4]
In 2012 he moved to German team Rhein-Neckar Löwen, where he played together with this twin brother, Isaías Guardiola. Here he won the 2012-13 EHF Cup. In October 2014 he extended his contract until 2018.[5] In 2020 he joined league rivals TBV Lemgo.[6] He won the German Championship back-to-back in 2016 and 2017 and the DHB-Supercup three times in a row from 2016 to 2018 with 'die Löwen'. When his contract was not extended in 2023, he left for HC Erlangen.[7][8] In February 2024 he left Erlangen, as he wanted to return to Spain.[9] He then joined Club Balonmano Nava on a deal until the end of the season 2025.[10]
In total he played 336 Bundesliga games, scoring 465 goals.[11]
National team
Guardiola debuted for the Spanish youth national team on 27 March 2002. He played five matches for the team. He later played 29 games for the U-21 team.[1]
He debuted for the Senior team on November 3rd, 2011 in the Supercup. His first major international tournament was the 2012 European Championship. Later the same year he played at the 2012 Olympics. He became a world champion at the 2013 World Championship.[12][13] At the 2014 European Championship he won bronze medals.
He also participated in the 2015 World Championship.[3]
At the 2018 and 2020 European Championships he won back-to-back gold medals with the Spanish team.[14]
At the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo he won bronze medals.[15]
At the 2022 European Championship he won silver medals, playing all ninegames and scoring 5 goals.[16] A year later at the 2023 World Championship on home soil he won bronze medals.
He missed the 2024 Olympics as he was injured a week before the games, during Spain's preparations.[17]
