Lövgren in 2007
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Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Lars Stefan Lövgren | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | December 21, 1970 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Partille, Sweden | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.92 m (6 ft 3 1⁄2 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing position | 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
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* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
Lars Stefan Lövgren (born December 21, 1970) is a former Swedish handball player. He was born in Gothenburg, Sweden. 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, Sweden), 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).
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).