Ólafur Indriði Stefánsson (born 3 July 1973 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói bay. Its latitude is 64°08' N, making it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. With a po ...

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

) is a former

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the g ...

player who, for many years was the captain of the

Iceland men's national handball team ) , Association = Icelandic Handball Association(''Handknattleikssamband Íslands'') , Coach = Guðmundur Guðmundsson , Assistant coach = Ágúst Þór JóhannssonGunnar Magnússon , Captain = Aro ...

but announced his international retirement after the

2012 London Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. His position was right back. At his peak he was considered to be one of the very best handball players in the world. 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 The Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year ( is, Íþróttamaður ársins) is an annual award given to the best Icelandic sportsperson of the year. The winner is selected by the Icelandic Association of Sports Journalists. It was first given in 1956 to ...

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

Ólafur's career started with the Reykjavík based sports club

Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...

. 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 SC Magdeburg is a handball club from Magdeburg, Germany, and is competing in the Handball-Bundesliga. History During the time in the GDR, the club won 10 national championships (1970, 1977, 1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1988, 1991) an ...

. In 2003, Ólafur was transferred to top Spanish club

BM Ciudad Real Balonmano Ciudad Real was a Spanish handball team based in Ciudad Real, Castilla La Mancha. BM Ciudad Real plays in Liga ASOBAL. History In July 1983 is founded in the city of Ciudad Real a handball club named Asociación Deportiva Cultural Case ...

. 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 Rhein-Neckar Löwen is a professional handball club founded in 2002, based in Mannheim, Germany. The club competes in the German Handball-Bundesliga and continentally in EHF European League. Rhein-Neckar Löwen play their home games in SAP Aren ...

, then coached by Icelandic national team coach, Guðmundur Guðmundsson. On 1 July 2011 he signed for

AG København AG København (former name: AG Håndbold) was a Danish handball club from Glostrup and Albertslund, two suburbs of Copenhagen, Denmark. In the season 2010/2011 it plays in the Danish Handball League. Their head coach was former Danish national t ...

, 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 Doha ( ar, الدوحة, ad-Dawḥa or ''ad-Dōḥa'') is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor, it is home to most of the coun ...

, Qatar. Since March 2022 Ólafur works as assistant coach at

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian language, Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative d ...

Career on the national team

In 1995, he was selected to play on the

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 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

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 Jón Arnór Stefánsson (born 21 September 1982) is an Icelandic basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national team. One of Iceland's most successful athletes of the early 21st century, he was the Icelandic Sportsperson of the ...

] and former footballer Eggert Stefánsson who played with Knattspyrnufélagið Fram, Fram in Úrvalsdeild karla.Eggert aftur í slaginn og æfir með FH-ingum
/ref>

Honours

Valur Reykjavík

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

SC Magdeburg

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

: 2001 *DHB-Supercup: 2001 * Champions League: 2002 *

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previ ...

: 1999, 2001 *

EHF Men's Champions Trophy The EHF Champions Trophy (named IHF Supercup between 1979 and 1983, named EHF Supercup between 1996 and 2007) was an official annual club competition of the European Handball Federation, that was contested until 2008. History Regarded as one of t ...

: 2001, 2002

BM Ciudad Real

Liga ASOBAL Liga Asobal is the premier professional handball league in Spain. It was founded in 1958 with the name of División de Honor, changing its name to the current name in 1990. The Liga ASOBAL, which is played under EHF rules, currently consists of 1 ...

: 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 *

Copa ASOBAL The Copa ASOBAL is an annual cup competition for Liga ASOBAL teams. It was first played for in 1990 and is contested by the top four teams at the end of the first half of the Liga ASOBAL season. Season by season Titles by team External ...

: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 *

Supercopa ASOBAL The Supercopa ASOBAL or the Supercopa de España de Balonmano is an annual cup competition for Spanish handball teams. It is organised by the Liga ASOBAL. It was first played for in 1985 and is disputed between the Liga ASOBAL champions and the win ...

: 2005, 2008 *

EHF Champions League The Men's EHF Champions League is the most important club handball competition for men's teams in Europe and involves the leading teams from the top European nations. The competition is organised every year by EHF. The official name for the me ...

: 2006, 2008, 2009 *

: 2005, 2006

AG København

Danish Handball League The Danish Men's Handball League, formerly known as Herrehåndboldligaen is the men's top Danish professional handball league. The winners of the Danish Men's Handball League are recognised as the Danish men's handball champions. The current cham ...

: 2012 *National Cup of Denmark: 2011

International

*5th place at 1997 World Championship *4th place at 2002 European Championship *2nd at

2008 Olympic Games The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

*3rd place at 2010 European Championship

Individual

*Icelandic Sports Personality of the Year: 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009 *Top Scorer at 2002 European Championship *Top Scorer in Magdeburg's history *Top Scorer in 2007-08 EHF Champions League *Top Scorer at BM Ciudad Real in 2002-03 season *Selected in 2002 European Championship All Star Team *Selected in

2004 Olympic Games The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

All Star Team *Selected in

All Star Team *Selected in 2010 European Championship All Star Team

Orders and special awards

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon ( is, Hin íslenska fálkaorða) is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by King Christian X of Denmark and Iceland on 3 July 1921. The award is awarded for merit for Iceland and humanity and has five degrees. N ...

- Knight Grand Cross in 2008

References

External links

Ólafur Stefánssons profile
at rhein-neckar-loewen.de {{DEFAULTSORT:Stefansson, Olafur 1973 births Living people Olafur Stefansson Olafur Stefansson Olafur Stefansson Handball players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Liga ASOBAL players Recipients of the Order of the Falcon Rhein-Neckar Löwen players BM Ciudad Real players SC Magdeburg players Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olafur Stefansson Olafur Stefansson