Few athletes redefine a sport the way Cristina Neagu has redefined handball. Her handball IQ, unparallelled skill, fierce determination, sheer will and unwavering leadership, the Romanian left back has become a global icon – the first player in history to win the IHF Female Player of the Year award four times.

Her resilience made Neagu one of the best players in the history of the game. But now, it is time to say goodbye. The MVP of the 2015 IHF Women’s World Championship and a generational talent, Neagu has already played the last official match of her career.

On 8 June – the number which has followed her throughout her entire career, on a beautiful Sunday, the Romanian left back will bow out quits in a high-profile gala, where a flurry of stars will join her one last time on the court, bidding her a heartfelt goodbye in front of a packed Sala Polivalentă in Bucharest, Neagu’s hometown.

“I am still in handball. Still,” smiles Neagu, when asked about the gala which will mark her farewell. 

“I don't know how it's going to be in July, August, September, when I should have started training and get ready for the new season. I had a lot of things to do in the last few weeks. I was even laughing when I said, I’m not going to set the alarm in the first week after the last official match. But I did every morning. because I had things to do and I had to wake up,” says the 36-year-old left back.

Great athletes thrive on their routine. Just think about Rafael Nadal when he was preparing to serve. Neagu also had her own routine, especially after matches, when she needed to pad her shoulder and knees with large bags of ice, to help with her recovery.

This season, though, in the Romanian League, it was different. Marred by injuries – she spent nearly four years of her career out due to various issues – she needed her routine to stay at the highest level. However, as this season was special, she embarked on another journey – a moving caravan at the end of every away match played, where children and fans could take an autograph from Neagu or a picture with her idol.

Giving back to the people who cheered and supported her for so long.

“This season really touched my soul. I really felt the support and the appreciation of people through my entire career. But this season? This was really special. When I saw the simple desire to stay in a line for a picture, I felt how emotional they were, how they were trembling, so from this point of view, it was amazing. I know that every time, in every match, people were waiting and I was in a hurry, because my recovery was really important to stay at the highest level. And I was not 25 years old anymore,” says Neagu.

“But what I got from the people, it was more than I needed. It really compensated everything. Because I also wanted to finish my career on a high, but also to enjoy myself, because I love handball.”

But was the decision to retired mulled over a lot? Or was just something in the spur of a moment? Neagu is crystal clear on what she wanted and why she wanted it this way.

“I thought about it for the last two or three years,” says Neagu, who missed the 2021 IHF Women’s World Championship, in order to let her body rest. “I have had all kinds of setbacks throughout my career. And now I wanted to retire on my terms, I wanted to feel it myself and play until the end and finish with my head up high,” adds the left back.

18 years ago, Neagu sent shockwaves into the handball world, as she made her debut at the IHF Women’s World Championship. She was already a rising star, being named the MVP of the 2006 IHF Women’s Youth World Championship, where she helped Romania secure the bronze medal.

But for a 19-year-old player, her performance was incredible at France 2007. Her mind was already set on being one of the best players in the world. But to announce herself in a quarter-final of the World Championship, against France, in Paris, in front of 13.000 spectators, it took guts and talent.

Neagu came on late in the first half and finished with eight goals in Romania’s 34:31 win, which needed extra-time. She was not there just to fill up the quota of players, she was there to stay.

“That is a mindset which I had from the start, from when I started training. I realised, even though I was a kid, that I was doing everything very easy, and after a few years, I said to myself, I think I can do something in handball. In France, I wanted to take advantage of every opportunity I had. In that match, France were six goals up at half-time. And I entered very relaxed, because I was thinking that if I made a mistake, what is the worst thing that could happen? Will the coach put me on the bench again,” says Neagu.

“Maybe I was not so well known for the others, but I knew what I can do. It was a statement from my part: I came here, now I am here, I am here to stay.”

And there she stayed. Three years later, Neagu won her first medal with Romania – the bronze at the EHF EURO 2010 – a marquee competition, where she was the top goal scorer and the All-Star left back. The Romania left back is also the all-time top goal scorer of the EHF EURO, with 303 goals, and was named MVP four times in the continental competition.

Yet her star probably shone the lightest at the 2015 IHF Women’s World Championship. Just after the EHF EURO 2010, Neagu had to make the toughest decision in her career. Chronic shoulder issues – which led to excruciating daily pain – forced her to undergo a surgery in the United States of America, despite warnings that her mobility and her shooting strength would not be the same.

Almost two years later – 605 days after the surgery, Neagu came back, but then disaster struck again, after only three months, when she suffered a torn ACL during a training session at her club, Oltchim Râmnicu Vâlcea. Anybody would have called it a day.

But Neagu was determined that no injury will derail her quest for greatness.

“For years, I was so nervous because I did not know if I could ever play handball again. Or if I could ever reach the level I had before these injuries. Only I know how I came back, only I know how many times I cried, how many times I asked myself if I could still play. And it is not just about that period  when you are injured and rehabbing, it is also about the period when you come back, because you can't come back after 10 months, and score 15 goals,” adds Neagu.

However, Neagu did come back and moved to Buducnost Podgorica, where she won her single Champions League trophy in 2015. It was probably the best year in her career, which ended with her only bronze medal at the IHF Women’s World Championship. With some true performances to remember.

Romania were perennial contenders for the title throughout the 2010s, due to Neagu’s fantastic talent. But 2015 needed more than Neagu at her peak, especially after losing three matches in a row in the preliminary round, against Russia, France and Spain, setting up Romania for a crunch clash against reigning world champions Brazil in the Round of 16.

After a players’ only meeting in the hotel, where they “chatted, cried, talked”, a new team emerged, a team which beat Brazil, 25:22, and was due to face Denmark, in the legendary Jyske Bank Boxen in Herning in the quarter-finals, with the hosts aiming for their first title since 2017.

“We realised we are at a crossroads and some players saw that we have a chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which would be their last chance to feature at the Olympics. Beating Brazil gave us a lot of confidence and we had no fear of meeting Denmark at home,” adds Neagu.

In that quarter-final, a vintage one, which went to extra-time, Neagu delivered her best performance at the IHF Women’s World Championship and, arguably, one of the best, if not the best, in her entire career. Her 15 goals propelled Romania directly in the semi-finals, thanks to a 31:30 extra-time win.

“We were at our peak, I was at my peak. I was very happy, I just wanted to win that match. I think we got the respect of the Denmark fans at that match. For me, it was the ideal age, I was in my prime, finally left the injuries behind, so that competition was truly amazing,” says the left back.

Unfortunately for Neagu and Romania, their path towards the title pit them against Norway and after a hard battle, Romania conceded a 33:35 loss, where Neagu scored eight goals. Neagu had to settle for the bronze, with a clear 31:22 win against Poland in the bronze medal match.

“I think if we won against Norway, we would have been world champions. I think we were the strongest team in the world at that point. Unfortunately, we lost and failed to secure that title,” says Neagu.

Still, she was the top goal scorer of that edition of the World Championship, with 63 goals, and was named the MVP of Denmark 2015. Soon after, she won her second IHF Female Player of the Year award, after the one in 2010.

Neagu went on to become the best player in the world twice more, in 2016 and 2018, being one of the three players to secure the trophy at least twice, with Bojana Radulovics being the first one and Henny Reistad (in 2023 and 2024) following in her footsteps.

“I wanted to play handball, irrespective of the injuries, because I love this sport. Because I felt this was my calling. In the past 15 years, I had pain every day, at every training, at every match, waking up, I felt pain. Sometimes the knee, sometimes the shoulder. If the question is if it was worth it? Of course it is,” says Neagu.

“But what I felt this year, from everyone, how many messages I received, how many people came to me to say how much I inspired them, how much I made them to want to be better, how they became better, just because they saw in me passion and determination. For me, these things matter more than any title. Of course, as an athlete, I would be absurd to say that I did not want to win every match. And this was seen in me and the way I fought, the way I played. I wanted to win every match, every medal I could, every trophy. But when you see these things coming from people, I don't think they'll remember what medals I won or how many trophies I won in my career. They'll say, when they see how determined, how passionate, how she jumped, how she threw, I think they'll remember these things.”

With the gala which will see former teammates as Isabelle Gullden, Bojana Popovic, Cristina Vărzaru, Radmila Petrovic, Katarina Bulatovic, Alexandrina Barbosa or Luminița Huțupan featuring on the court over, the “Unstoppable 8” will finish her career as a player.

What’s next for Neagu?

“I just let time pass, to relax, to release this constant pressure that I've had throughout my career, and let things come naturally. I don't want to do anything special, I didn't think about anything special. I will go on vacation I'll come back, but I just want to be myself, to be a normal person, to do normal things. Someone asked me in the supermarket if I really go to the supermarket. And if I retired or I will play again,” smiles Neagu.

But will she stay close to handball?

“In the very near future, no. If I miss it, and I wish to come back, and there will  be opportunities? Maybe, but at the moment, no,” concludes the player who scored 975 goals for Romania in 222 appearances.