BIOGRAPHY
Stefan Lövgren is one of Sweden’s golden generation, part of the elite group of players to have won four EHF EURO titles, as well as multiple Olympic and world medals.
Born in Partille, Lövgren began his club career for Gothenburg side Redbergslids before moving to Germany in 1998. He spent most of the rest of his career playing for THW Kiel, winning the EHF Champions League with the club in 2007 and captained the side for some time.
However, Lövgren is best-known for his role with the Swedish national team. He made his first appearance for Sweden in 1993 and a year later won his first European title, in the competition’s inaugural tournament. Over the following years Lövgren grew into one of the key players for the team as the ‘Bengan Boys’ generation dominated European handball.
Lövgren won silver medals at the 1996 and 2000 Olympic Games, and across four World Championships added gold, two silvers and a bronze. He also collected three more European titles between 1998 and 2002 in a glittering period for the Swedish men’s side.
He was named MVP at the 1999 and 2001 World Championships and was top scorer at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games with 51 goals. He also picked up an All-star Team award at the EHF EURO 1998, as left back instead of his usual centre back position.
When he finally stepped back from the court, Lövgren had scored 1,161 goals in 269 international matches for Sweden. He is one of two players to have scored more than 1,000 goals in the Swedish and German leagues, and the first handball player to score more than 50 goals at the Olympic Games, world and European championships.
Lövgren continues to be involved in handball, sitting on the EHF Executive and working for the Swedish Handball Federation.
WATCH HERE
