Claude Onesta is a former French

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 handball

Team handball

Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

 player and current head coach for the French national handball team

France national handball team

France national handball team is the handball team, supervised by the French Handball Federation, that represents France in the international matches....

.

He is, with Vladimir Maksimov

Vladimir Maksimov

Vladimir Salmanovich Maksimov is a former Soviet/Russian handball player. After his retirement as an active field player, he was chosen as a coach for the national team, with which he won all three major titles in handball...

, the only coach to have obtained the three major titles in handball: European champion (twice, in 2006

2006 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2006 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was held in Switzerland from 26 January–5 February, in the cities of Basel, Berne, Lucerne, St. Gallen and Zürich. France won the tournament, going through unbeaten after an early defeat to Spain...

 and 2010

2010 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2010 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was held in Austria from 19–31 January, in the cities of Vienna, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz and Wiener Neustadt.-Venues:...

), world champion (twice, in 2009

2009 World Men's Handball Championship

The 2009 World Men's Handball Championship took place in Croatia from 16 January–1 February, in the cities of Split, Zadar, Osijek, Varaždin, Poreč, Zagreb and Pula. Croatia was selected from a group of four potential hosts which included the Czech Republic, Greece and Romania.The opening game and...

 and 2011

2011 World Men's Handball Championship

The 2011 World Men's Handball Championship, the 22nd event hosted by the International Handball Federation, was held in Sweden from 13–30 January, 2011...

) ) and Olympic champion (in 2008

Handball at the 2008 Summer Olympics

thumb|left|240px|Gold medalists [[France]] collect their medals on August 24, 2008Handball competitions at the Beijing 2008 Summer Olympics were held from August 9, to August 24, at the Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium and National Indoor Stadium. Medals were awarded for both Men's and Women's team...

). More prominently, he is the first coach for a French national team (and the first coach for a handball national team in the world) to have held (and currently hold) these three titles simultaneously.

Earlier on, he led the French team to bronze medals at the 2003 World Men's Handball Championship

2003 World Men's Handball Championship

The 2003 World Men's Handball Championship took place in Portugal from January 20 to February 2, 2003.-Qualified teams:24 teams were qualified for the first round and dispatched into 4 groups.Group A : , , , , , .Group B : , , , , , ....

 in Portugal, and again at the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship

2005 World Men's Handball Championship

The 2005 World Championship for men in team handball was played in Tunisia between January 23 and February 6, 2005.The winner of the gold medal was Spain, Croatia took silver and France won the bronze.-Group A :-Group B :...

 in Tunisia. Under his supervision, the French team also obtained the bronze medal at the 2008 European Men's Handball Championship

2008 European Men's Handball Championship

The 2008 EHF European Men's Handball Championship was held in Norway from 17–27 January, in the cities of Bergen, Drammen, Lillehammer, Stavanger and Trondheim. Denmark won the tournament with Croatia second and France third....

in Norway.