Þórir Hergeirsson (; ; born 27 April 1964) is an Icelandic

handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball, Olympic handball or indoor 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 thr ...

coach and former player. He is one of the most decorated national team coaches in handball history and won seventeen championship medals with the Norwegian women's national team during a fifteen-year reign, including two Olympic gold medals, three

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game ...

titles and six

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

titles. Þórir coached clubs

Elverum Elverum () is a List of municipalities of Norway, municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the Traditional districts of Norway, traditional district of Østerdalen. The administrative centre of the municipality is the Elverum ( ...

Gjerpen Gjerpen is a former municipality in Telemark county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1838 until its dissolution in 1964. The area is now part of Skien Municipality. The administrative centre was the village of Gjerpen, which is now part o ...

and

Nærbø Nærbø is the largest village in Hå municipality in Rogaland county, Norway. The village is located in the district of Jæren, about half-way between the town of Bryne and the village of Varhaug. The village sits about south of Norway's fourth ...

, before becoming the assistant coach of the Norwegian national team in 2001 and succeeding

Marit Breivik Marit Breivik (born 10 April 1955) is a Norwegian former handball player and coach. She is one of the most decorated national team coaches in handball history and won thirteen championship medals with the Norwegian women's national handball te ...

as head coach in 2009. He stepped down from the national team in December 2024.

Early life

Born on 27 April 1964, Þórir was born and raised in Selfoss.

Playing career

Þórir played for Selfoss handball team until 1986, when he moved to Norway to study at the

Norwegian School of Sport Sciences The Norwegian School of Sport Sciences (, NIH) is a public university located at Sognsvann in Oslo, Norway. It has the national responsibility for education and research related within sport sciences. It provides education at the Bachelor, Mast ...

. He continued playing for a short while in Norway before fully focusing on his coaching career.

Coaching career

Þórir's first coaching experience was with Selfoss junior teams. Shortly after moving to Oslo in 1986 to further his education he was hired as the head coach of

men's team. He later coached at Gjerpen Håndball and Nærbø IL. Þórir has been part of the Norway national coaching team since 2001, and took over as head coach in April 2009, succeeding former head coach

. He led the Norwegian team to bronze medals at the 2009 World Women's Handball Championship, gold medals at the

2010 European Women's Handball Championship The 2010 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Denmark and Norway from 7 to 19 December. It was the first European Championship hosted by two countries. Norway won their overall 5th gold medal, when they defeated first time finalist ...

, gold medals at the

2011 World Women's Handball Championship The 2011 World Women's Handball Championship was the 20th edition of the international championship tournament in women's Team sport handball that is governed by the International Handball Federation (IHF). Brazil hosted the event from 2–18 De ...

, and gold medals at the

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

. In August 2016, he won Bronze with Norway at the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

. In December 2016, he guided the team to gold at the

2016 European Women's Handball Championship The 2016 European Women's Handball Championship was held in Sweden from 4 to 18 December 2016. It was the second time that Sweden hosts the tournament, after it also hosted the 2006 European Women's Handball Championship. Sweden was awarded the c ...

despite losing his mother the day before the tournament started. Þórir has been awarded the title ''Norwegian Sports Coach of the Year'' at

Idrettsgallaen Idrettsgallaen ("the Sports Gala") is a show to honor the past year's Norwegian sports and athletes' achievements. It is hosted annually at Hamar Olympic Amphitheatre in Hamar in early January. The event started in 2001. Hamar was selected because ...

twice. His first win in 2007 was shared with Marit Breivik. In 2023, he won the award again. In September 2024, Þórir announced that the current season would be his last as head coach of the national team.

Achievements

Olympic Games *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

– 1st *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

– 3rd *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

– 3rd *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

– 1st World Championship *

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

– 3rd *

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

– 1st *

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

– 5th *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

– 1st *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

– 2nd *

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

– 4th *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

– 1st *

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

– 2nd European Championship *

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

– 1st *

– 2nd *

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

– 1st *

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

– 5th *

– 1st *

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

– 1st *

– 1st

Personal life

Þórir's daughter Maria Thorisdottir is a Norwegian international footballer. Þórir's brother is Grímur Hergeirsson, himself a handball coach and former player. He is the uncle of the Icelandic national team player Janus Daði Smárason. On 21 March 2017, Þórir was made a Knight 1st Class of the

Royal Norwegian Order of Merit The Royal Norwegian Order of Merit (Norwegian: ''Den Kongelige Norske Fortjenstorden'' (Bokmål) or ''Den Kongelege Norske Fortenesteordenen'' (Nynorsk)) was instituted by King Olav V in 1985. It is awarded to foreigners, Norwegian citizens livin ...

. In January 2025, he was made a Knight of the

Order of the Falcon The Order of the Falcon () is the only order of chivalry in Iceland, founded by Christian X of Denmark, 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. Nowaday ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hergeirsson, Thorir 1964 births Living people Thorir Hergeirsson Handball coaches of international teams Thorir Hergeirsson Thorir Hergeirsson Norwegian School of Sport Sciences alumni Coaches at the 2024 Summer Olympics Knights of the Order of the Falcon