Ingunn Embla Kristínardóttir (born 27 October 1995) is an Icelandic

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. She won the Icelandic championship in 2013 with

Keflavík Keflavík (pronounced , meaning ''Driftwood Bay'') is a town in the Reykjanes region in southwest Iceland. It is included in the municipality of Reykjanesbær whose population as of 2016 is 15,129. In 1995, Keflavik merged with nearby Njarðv ...

. The same year, she debuted for the Icelandic national basketball team. In 2023, she won her second Icelandic championship with Valur.

Early life

Embla was born in

. She grew up in

Skagaströnd Skagaströnd (), previously Höfðakaupstaður (), is a municipality and village in the Northwestern Region of Iceland. It is situated on the western side of the Skagi peninsula, along the east coast of the Húnaflói ('Húna Bay'). The muni ...

before the family moved again to Keflavík where she starting playing basketball with

's junior teams.

Playing career

Club career

Embla played her first senior games with

during the 2012-2013 season where she averaged 6.8 points and 2.3 assists in 35 regular season and playoffs game and helped the club to both the national championship and the Icelandic Cup. She missed most of the following season due to pregnancy. In January 2015, she helped Keflavík to the Cup finals, but was unable to prevent a loss to

Grindavík Grindavík () is a fishing town on the Southern Peninsula (Iceland), Southern Peninsula of Iceland not far from the tuya Þorbjörn (mountain), Þorbjörn. It is one of the few cities with a harbour on this coast. Most of the inhabitants work in ...

. In February 2015, Embla received a two-game suspension from the

Icelandic Basketball Federation The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketba ...

disciplinary court for kicking

Gunnhildur Gunnarsdóttir Gunnhildur Gunnarsdóttir (born 7 August 1990) is an Icelandic basketball player and a former member of the Icelandic national basketball team. During her career, she won the Icelandic championship and the Icelandic Cup twice each. In 2016, s ...

. She helped Keflavík to the Úrvalsdeild finals where they lost 0-3 to Snæfell. For the season, Embla averaged 8.1 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists. In August 2015, she signed a two-year contract with

. In 2016, she helped Grindavík take a 2-1 lead against

Haukar Knattspyrnufélagið Haukar ( en, Hawks F.C.) is an Icelandic multi-sport club from Hafnarfjörður with divisions in Football, Handball, Basketball, Karate, Skiing & Chess. Club history The club was founded on 12 April 1931, when 13 young boys ...

in the semi-finals of the Úrvalsdeild kvenna playoffs. Haukar won the next two games and advanced to the finals. The next season, Embla was unable to prevent Grindavík from being relegated but agreed to play with the team during the 2017-2018 Division I season. Unhappy with new coach Angela Rodriguez, Embla left Grindavík in December 2017, after averaging 21.3 points, 12.4 rebounds and 5.0 assists, and returned to Keflavík. On January 13, 2018, she won the Icelandic Cup with Keflavík after defeating

Njarðvík Njarðvík () is a town in southwestern Iceland, on the peninsula of Reykjanes. As of 2009, its population was 4,400. History In 1995 it merged with the town of Keflavík and the village of Hafnir to form the new municipality of Reykjanesbær. T ...

in the Cup finals, 74-63. She led all Keflavík players in scoring with 20 points. In January 2020, Embla signed with

Fjölnir Fjölnir ( non, Fjǫlnir ) is a legendary king in Norse mythology said to have been the son of Freyr (Frey) and his consort Gerðr (Gertha). The name appears in a variety of forms, including Fiolnir, Fjölner, Fjolner, and Fjolne. He was claime ...

. In her debut, she had 10 points, 7 rebounds and 2 steals in 13 minutes. She averaged 12.0 points and 5.3 rebounds in 6 games before the rest of the season was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic in Iceland. On 15 May 2020, Embla signed with reigning Icelandic Cup champions Skallagrímur. On 20 September 2020, she scored 10 points in Skallagrímur's 74-68 victory against

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 ...

in the Icelandic Super Cup. For the season, she averaged 7.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists. She remained with Skallagrímur the following season but in December 2021 she announced she would miss the rest of the season due to pregnancy. In four Úrvalsdeild games, she averaged 12.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game. In November 2022, Embla signed with

. On 28 April 2023, she won her first Icelandic championship after Valur defeated top-seeded

in the Úrvalsdeild finals, 3–1. In the championship clinching game, she scored the go-ahead basket with a three point shot with 26 seconds left in the game.

National team career

Between 2013 and 2019, Embla played 21 games for the Icelandic women's national basketball team. She helped the team to silver at the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and the

2017 Games of the Small States of Europe The 2017 Games of the Small States of Europe, also known as the XVII Games of the Small States of Europe, took place in San Marino from 29 May to 3 June 2017. Development and preparation Venues Games Participating teams * ( 49) * ( 143 ...

. In an interview with

RÚV Ríkisútvarpið (RÚV) (pronounced or ) ( en, 'The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service') is Iceland's national public-service broadcasting organization. Operating from studios in the country's capital, Reykjavík, as well as regional cent ...

in January 2018, she stated that she would no longer play for the national team if the

would continue to select players convicted of

sexual crimes Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes. Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...

to their national team programs. In November 2018, Embla was selected to the team ahead of its games against

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

and

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

in the

EuroBasket Women 2019 qualification This page describes the qualification procedure for EuroBasket Women 2019. Qualifying draw The draw for the qualification took place on 4 July 2017 in Munich, Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country ...

Personal life

When Embla was 13 years old, she was raped by a 20 year old member of the Icelandic national

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping events ...

team. The man was convicted of the crime but received a

suspended sentence A suspended sentence is a sentence on conviction for a criminal offence, the serving of which the court orders to be deferred in order to allow the defendant to perform a period of probation. If the defendant does not break the law during that ...

. Her story was featured in

coverage of the

Me Too movement #MeToo is a social movement against sexual abuse, sexual harassment, and rape culture, in which people publicize their experiences of sexual abuse or sexual harassment. The phrase "Me Too" was initially used in this context on social media in ...

in Iceland in January 2018. From 2016 to 2017, Embla struggled with

Bulimia Bulimia nervosa, also known as simply bulimia, is an eating disorder characterized by binge eating followed by purging or fasting, and excessive concern with body shape and weight. The aim of this activity is to expel the body of calories eate ...

. She was ultimately helped by coach Helgi Jónas Guðfinnsson to return to health.

References

External links

Icelandic statistics
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kki.is
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kristinardottir, Embla 1995 births Living people Embla Kristinardottir Embla Kristinardottir Embla Kristinardottir Embla Kristinardottir Embla Kristinardottir Point guards Embla Kristinardottir Embla Kristinardottir Embla Kristinardottir