Kári Marísson (born 20 November 1951) is an Icelandic former multi-sport athlete and basketball coach. He played and coached basketball for several decades and was the oldest player to have played in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla, at the age of 49 years, until the record was broken by Baldur Þorleifsson in 2015.

Early life

Kári grew up in

Árbær Árbær () is a district within the city of Reykjavík, Iceland. It includes five neighbourhoods: ''Árbær'' proper, ''Ártúnsholt'' , ''Norðlingaholt'' , ''Selás'' and the industrial area ''Hálsar'' . The area has approximately 13,000 inhabi ...

in Reykjavík where he competed in

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a bar. Pole jumping competitions were known to the Myc ...

and

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

Basketball

Playing career

Kári played his first game in with KFR in 1967. In 1975, he left the club, which by that time was named Valur, and signed with

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 ...

. He left Njarðvík at the conclusion of the 1977–78 season and later joined Tindastóll.

National team career

From 1972 to 1976, Kári played 34 games for the

Icelandic national basketball team The Iceland men's national basketball team ( is, Íslenska karlalandsliðið í körfubolta) represents Iceland in international basketball tournaments. The team is controlled by the Icelandic Basketball Association. Iceland has qualified for t ...

Coaching career

Kári was a player-coach with Tindastóll for several seasons until 1988 when the team was promoted to the Úrvalsdeild. After spending the 1988–89 season as just a player, he returned to the player-coach role in July 1989. He was fired from his coaching position in October 1989 after a bad start for the team and subsequently stopped playing. He later coached Tindastóll women's team and later the men's team from 2004 to 2005. In October 2015, he temporary took over the team after the firing of Pieti Poikola and until the hiring of José María Costa Gómez.

Football

Kári played 9 games for Íþróttabandalag Akraness in 1973, including 3 in the top-tier league. He appeared in 4 matches in the Icelandic Cup, scoring 2 goals.

Personal life

Kári was married to Katrín Axelsdóttir from 1976 until her death in 1994. He is the father of basketball players Axel Kárason, Arnar Snær Kárason and María Káradóttir and stepfather of former Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year and national team member Kristín Björk Jónsdóttir.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Marísson, Kari 1951 births Living people Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson Kári Marísson