Pétur Guðmundsson (born 9 March 1962) is a retired

shot put The shot put is a track-and-field event involving "putting" (throwing) a heavy spherical Ball (sports), ball—the ''shot''—as far as possible. For men, the sport has been a part of the Olympic Games, modern Olympics since their 1896 Summer Olym ...

ter and Highland games competitor from

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. He represented Iceland at the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

and

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

. He is a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

by profession.

Career

Shot put and discus

Pétur's personal best shot put of , thrown on 10 November 1990 in

Mosfellsbær Mosfellsbær (, colloquially Mosó) is a town in south-west Iceland, east of the country's capital, Reykjavík. The coat of arms of the municipality is a tightly-knotted triquetra, a symbol often used in Celtic knotwork and strongly associated ...

ranked him the number 3 shot putter in the world during that year. His competition best is achieved at

1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships The 1994 European Athletics Indoor Championships were held in Paris, the capital city of France in between 11 and 13 March 1994. This was the last edition to feature race walking. Medal summary Men Women Medal table * Athletes of the Federal ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

where he won bronze. Pétur won five gold medals at

Games of the Small States of Europe The Games of the Small States of Europe (GSSE) is a biennial multi-sport event, launched by the Republic of San Marino, organized by and featuring the National Olympic Committees of nine European small state, small states since 1985. The Games a ...

for shot put in 1985, 1987, 1991, 1993 and 1997; and a gold and bronze in

discus throw The discus throw (), also known as disc throw, is a track and field sport in which the participant athlete throws an oblate spheroid weight (object), weight called a discus in an attempt to mark a further distance than other competitors. It is a ...

in 1997 and 1993 respectively.

Highland games

Pétur is also the world record holder in the Braemar Stone throw at three different weights: for (

Estes Park, Colorado Estes Park () is a statutory town in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The town population was 5,904 at the 2020 United States census. Estes Park is a part of the Fort Collins, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Front Range Urb ...

, 2000), for (

Fredericksburg, Virginia Fredericksburg is an Independent city (United States), independent city in Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 27,982. It is south of Washington, D.C., and north of Richmond, Virginia, R ...

, 2000) and for (Fredericksburg, Virginia, 1997), and is often regarded as one of the greatest stone throwers in history.

Strongman

Having competed in

Strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

at national level, Pétur won third place back to back in 1992 and 1993 Iceland’s Strongest Man. He is one of only a few men who has lifted the legendary Brynjólfstak which weighs . Petursstein, another iconic Icelandic

Lifting stone Lifting stones are heavy natural stones which people are challenged to lift, proving their strength. They are common throughout Northern Europe, particularly Iceland (where they are referred to as ''steintökin''), Scotland, Ireland, Basque Countr ...

located in front of the

Dynjandi Dynjandi (, also known as Fjallfoss ) is a waterfall located in Arnarfjörður in the Westfjords region of Iceland. It is the largest waterfall in the Westfjords and has a total height of . Below it are five other waterfalls: Háifoss, Úðafoss, ...

waterfall in the Westfjords, is named after him.

Competition record

References

sports-reference

1962 births Living people Petur Gudmundsson Athletes (track and field) at the 1988 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1992 Summer Olympics Petur Gudmundsson Petur Gudmundsson Petur Gudmundsson 20th-century Icelandic sportsmen {{Iceland-athletics-bio-stub