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Ólafur Stefánsson

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Ólafur Indriði Stefánsson (born 3 July 1973) is an Icelandic former handball player who, for many years was the captain of the Iceland men's national handball team but announced his international retirement after the 2012 London Olympics. His position was right back. At his peak he was considered to be one of the very best handball players in the world.

Ólafur Stefánsson
Personal information
Full name Ólafur Indriði Stefánsson
Born (1973-07-03) 3 July 1973 (age 51)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Playing position Right back
Club information
Current club HC Erlangen (assistant coach)
Youth career
Years Team
1984–1992
 Valur
Senior clubs
Years Team
1992–1996
 Valur
1996–1998
 LTV Wuppertal
1998–2003
 SC Magdeburg
2003–2009
 BM Ciudad Real
2009–2011
 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
2011–2012
 AG København
2012–2013
 Lekhwiya
2015
 KIF Kolding[1]
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–2013
 Iceland 318 (1511)
Teams managed
2013
 Valur
2015–2016
 Iceland (assistant)
2022–
 Erlangen (assistant)
Medal record
Representing  Iceland
Men's Handball
Summer Olympics
Silver medal – second place 2008 Beijing Team competition
European Championship
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Austria Team competition
This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Ólafur.
Ólafur Stefánsson

As a player for his national team, his goal tally of 1570 is third only to the Hungarian Péter Kovács and Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson. He is also one of the most enduring handball players of all times, being a senior field player since 1992.

He was voted Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009. He won silver with the Icelandic handball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as bronze at the 2010 European Championship.

Career in clubs

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Ólafur's career started with the Reykjavík based sports club Valur. With Valur, Ólafur became Icelandic champion 5 times. After Valur, he transferred to the Bundesliga, playing with LTV Wuppertal, then coached by Icelandic coach Viggó Sigurðsson. Later the joined another Icelandic coach, Alfreð Gíslason in SC Magdeburg. In 2003, Ólafur was transferred to top Spanish club BM Ciudad Real. At the pinnacle of his career, Ólafur Stefánsson enjoyed massive success with Ciudad, winning both the Champions League and the Spanish title multiple times. In 2009 he went back to Germany to play with Rhein-Neckar Löwen, then coached by Icelandic national team coach, Guðmundur Guðmundsson. On 1 July 2011 he signed for AG København, but after the club filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2012 he was without a club for the remainder of the year. On December 7 his agent announced he had signed for the Lekhwiya Handball Team in Doha, Qatar.[2]

Since March 2022 Ólafur works as assistant coach at Erlangen .

Career on the national team

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In 1995, he was selected to play on the Iceland men's national handball team to take part in the world championships, which were held in Iceland.

He was captain for the national handball team on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (where Iceland won the silver medal), and again at the 2010 European Championship where Iceland finished third.

Family

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He is the brother of Icelandic basketball player Jón Arnór Stefánsson[3] and former footballer Eggert Stefánsson who played with Fram in Úrvalsdeild karla.[4]

Honours

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Valur Reykjavík

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  • Icelandic champion: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996
  • Icelandic cup: 1993

SC Magdeburg

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BM Ciudad Real

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AG København

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International

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Individual

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Orders and special awards

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International goals

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No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 21 January 2000 Rijeka, Croatia   Sweden 6–9 23–31 2000 European Men's Handball Championship
2. 11–20
3. 22–30
4. 22 January 2000   Portugal 5–2 25–28
5. 9–7
6. 12–11
7. 19–22
8. 20–24
9. 23 January 2000   Russia 1–0 23–25
10. 11–12
11. 20–23
12. 25 January 2000 Zagreb, Croatia   Denmark 5–3 24–26
13. 7–6
14. 17–14
15. 21–22
16. 27 January 2000   Slovenia 3–3 26–27
17. 5–6
18. 9–10
19. 20–19
20. 29 January 2000 Rijeka, Croatia   Ukraine 8–6 26–25
21. 9–7
22. 25–24

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "OLAFUR IS BACK! Stefansson plays against PPD Zagreb". 10 March 2015.
  2. ^ "Ólafur Stefánsson samdi við lið í Katar - Vísir".
  3. ^ Jón Arnór spilar með KR í kvöld
  4. ^ Eggert aftur í slaginn og æfir með FH-ingum
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