Nikola Rađen ( sr-cyr, Никола Рађен, ; born 29 January 1985) is a Serbian

water polo Water polo is a competitive sport, competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the water polo ball, ball into the oppo ...

player who plays for Serbian club

Crvena zvezda Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club), commonly referred to as Crvena zvezda () and colloquially referred to as Red Star Belgrade in anglophone media, is a ...

. He was a member of the

Serbia men's national water polo team The Serbia men's national water polo team represents Serbia in international men's water polo. It is considered to be one of the most successful men's water polo teams in the world, winning medals in all Olympic tournaments it has entered, i ...

at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. He won with Serbia the 2009 World Championship as well as the 2012 Eindhoven European Championship. Rađen has also won 2

LEN Euroleague The European Aquatics Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A ...

s with his former clubs Partizan Raiffeisen (2011) and VK Crvena zvezda (2013).

National career

2012 Eindhoven

On 16 January, at the

European Championship A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

Rađen scored in the first game two goals in an 8–5 win against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. After next two games without goals, on 21 January in the fourth match, Rađen scored his third goal of the tournament for his national team in a routine victory against

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

14–5. Nikola Rađen won the 2012 European Championship on 29 January. He scored a goal in the final against Montenegro which his national team won by 9–8. This was his first gold medal at the European Championships.

Honours

Club

VK Partizan *

LEN Champions League The European Aquatics Champions League is the top-tier European professional water polo club competition with teams from up to 18 countries. It is organized by the Ligue Européenne de Natation. The competition started in 1963 as European Cup. A ...

(1):

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

* National Championship of Serbia (5): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 * National Cup of Serbia (5): 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2010–11 * Eurointer League (2): 2010, 2011 VK Crvena Zvezda *

(1): 2012–13 *

LEN Super Cup The European Aquatics Super Cup is an annual water polo match organized by European Aquatics and contested by the reigning champions of the two most important European club competitions, the European Aquatics Champions League and the European A ...

(1): 2013 * National Championship of Serbia (1): 2012–13 * National Cup of Serbia (1): 2012–13 * Eurointer League (1): 2013 Olympiacos * National Championship of Greece (1): 2014–15 * National Cup of Greece (1): 2014–15 CSM Digi Oradea * National Championship of Rumania (1) : 2016–17 Dynamo Moscow * National Championship of Russia (2): 2017–18, 2018–19 *National Cup of Russia (2): 2017–18, 2018–19

Failed drug test

On 15 May 2015, Serbian media published that Rađen was tested positive for

cocaine Cocaine is a tropane alkaloid and central nervous system stimulant, derived primarily from the leaves of two South American coca plants, ''Erythroxylum coca'' and ''Erythroxylum novogranatense, E. novogranatense'', which are cultivated a ...

after the World League game between Serbia and Spain, held on 17 February 2015. The penalty for such doping violation is 4 years of not participating in any kind of sport events. On 18 May 2015, he was officially temporary suspended by

FINA World Aquatics, formerly known as FINA (; ), is the international federation recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for administering international competitions in List of water sports, water sports. It is one of several interna ...

due to continued investigation into his positive doping results to cocaine metabolites. Furthermore, two days later,

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, the club with whom he was under the contract, terminated the contract for violating the terms of it. On 24 August 2015, he was officially suspended on a 4-year period by FINA for positive doping results; from tests taking place on 17 February, and nearly two months later, on 15 April.

Personal life

He joined the

Serbian Progressive Party The Serbian Progressive Party (, SNS) is a major populist, catch-all party, catch-all List of political parties in Serbia, political party in Serbia. It has been the Ruling party, ruling party since 2012. Miloš Vučević, the former prime mi ...

in November 2023.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Raden, Nikola 1985 births Living people Sportspeople from Novi Sad Serbian male water polo players Water polo centre backs Water polo players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medalists for Serbia in water polo World Aquatics Championships medalists in water polo European champions for Serbia Water polo players at the 2005 Mediterranean Games Water polo players at the 2009 Mediterranean Games Mediterranean Games medalists in water polo Mediterranean Games gold medalists for Serbia Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Serbia and Montenegro Summer World University Games medalists in water polo FISU World University Games gold medalists for Serbia and Montenegro Olympiacos Water Polo Club players Doping cases in water polo Serbian sportspeople in doping cases Serbia and Montenegro male water polo players Serbian expatriate water polo players Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Serbian expatriate sportspeople in Greece European Water Polo Championship medalists 21st-century Serbian sportsmen