BIOGRAPHY
Stefan Kretzschmar was born in East Germany in 1973, the son of handball stars Waltraud and Peter. He trialled for the Dynamo Berlin sports school as a 14-year-old, but missed out due to being too small – but his father insisted on the young Stefan’s inclusion. The gamble paid off, as by the age of 16 Kretzschmar had grown and started to show the promise that would lead him to a bright future.
Kretzschmar signed for his first senior club, SV Blau-Weiß Spandau, in 1991 and two years later moved to VfL Gummersbach, a move which also gave him his first steps into the national team. Kretzschmar became the number one left wing for Germany at the EHF EURO 1994 in Portugal.
His national team career would see him win silver medals at the EHF EURO 2002, the 2003 IHF World Men’s Handball Championship and the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. Kretzschmar won 218 international caps, and scored 821 goals during his national team career, which lasted until 2004.
In 1996 Kretzschmar joined SC Magdeburg, the club where he would stay for the rest of his career. He won the EHF Cup with Magdeburg in 1999 and 2001 and was part of the side which became the first German winners of the EHF Champions League in 2002. Magdeburg, including Kretzschmar, also won the Champions League in 2007, the year he retired from professional handball.
The heavily tattooed Kretzschmar has built a career as sports director of several clubs since he stopped playing – he is currently at Füchse Berlin – and he also acts as a TV commentator for the sport. Meanwhile, the Kretzschmar legacy is strong, as his daughter Lucie-Marie is a beach handball star with several titles.
