Stefan Lövgren

Lars Stefan Lövgren (born 21 December 1970) is a Swedish former handball player. He was born in Gothenburg. Making his debut in the national team in 1993, he played a total of 268 games and scored 1138 goals. During his adult career he played for Redbergslids IK (in Gothenburg), and German sides TV Niederwürzbach and Champions League- and Bundesliga-winning team THW Kiel. He was the captain of the national team during the period 1996–2006 and for THW Kiel 2001–2009. He is a five-time Swedish league champion with Redbergslid, and a seven-time Bundesliga champion with THW. He won the German cup four times, and he helped lead Kiel to the European Champions League title in 2007 (being a finalist in 2000, 2008 and 2009).

Stefan Lövgren

Stefan Lövgren during the Schlecker Cup in August 2007
Personal information
Full name	Lars Stefan Lövgren
Date of birth	(1970-12-21) 21 December 1970
Place of birth	Partille, Sweden
Height	1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in)
Position(s)	Middle Back
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1990–1998	Redbergslids IK	?	(?)
1998–1999	TV Niederwürzbach	29	(152)
1999–2009	THW Kiel	313	(1176)
National team
1993–2006	Sweden	268	(1138)
Medal record Men's handball Representing  Sweden Olympic Games 1996 Atlanta Team Competition 2000 Sydney Team Competition World Championships 1999 Egypt Team competition 1997 Japan Team competition 2001 France Team competition 1995 Iceland Team competition European Championships 1994 Portugal Team competition 1998 Italy Team competition 2000 Croatia Team competition 2002 Sweden Team competition
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Lövgren was World Champion in 1999 with the national team and is one of the few players to have participated in all the gold medal-winning Swedish sides in the European Championships (1994, 1998, 2000, 2002). As an individual player, he was named Most Valuable Player in both the 1999 and 2001 World Championships, was top scorer in the Olympic Games in 2000 and provided the most assists during the 2005 World Men's Handball Championship in what proved to be his final major tournament. He is a former member of the IHF Athletes Commission, and is one of the most respected players in team handball (with, among others, Nikola Karabatić citing him as a role model both as a person, player and captain).

Lövgren is a two-time Olympic silver medalist. In the 1996 Atlanta games, the Swedish team won the silver medal with Lövgren playing all seven matches and scoring a total of 17 goals. Four years later in Sydney Sweden again won silver. Lövgren played all eight matches and scored 51 goals.

In January 2010, Lövgren returned to the US to play in the Big Apple Team Handball Tournament where he competed with a group of European all-stars against the reigning US club champions, New York City THC. Lövgren and the all-stars won 39-27.[1]

Lövgren lives in Kungälv outside Gothenburg with his wife and their two children.