Ólafur Stefánsson

Ólafur Indriði Stefánsson (born 3 July 1973 in Reykjavík, Iceland) is a former Icelandic handball player who, for many years was the captain of the Iceland 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
Date of birth (1973-07-03) 3 July 1973
Place of birth Reykjavík, Iceland
Height 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m)
Playing position(s) Right Back
Youth career
1984–1992 Valur
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1996 Valur - (-)
1996–1998 LTV Wuppertal 28 (139)
1998–2003 SC Magdeburg 164 (897)
2003–2009 BM Ciudad Real - (-)
2009–2011 Rhein-Neckar Löwen 65 (209)
2011–2012 AG København 21 (49)
2012–2013 Lekhwiya
2015 KIF Kolding[1]
National team
1992–2013 Iceland 318 (1511)
Teams managed
2013 Valur
2015–2016 Iceland (assistant)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only
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 Sports Personality of the Year in Iceland in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009.

Career in clubs

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]

Ólafur now lives in Reykjavík and coaches his boyhood team Valur.

Career on the national team

In 1995, he was selected to play on the Iceland 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

He is the brother of Icelandic basketball player Jón Arnór Stefánsson, formerly of NBA's Dallas Mavericks.

Honours

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

SC Magdeburg

BM Ciudad Real

AG København
  • Danish Handball League : 2012
  • National Cup of Denmark: 2011

International

Individual

Orders and special awards
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References
  1. http://www.handball-planet.com/olafur-is-back-stefansson-plays-against-ppd-zagreb/
  2. http://visir.is/olafur-stefansson-samdi-vid-lid-i-katar/article/2012121209245
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