Björgvin Páll Gústavsson (born 24 May 1985) 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 ...

player that plays as a goalkeeper.

Background

Björgvin grew up in

Kópavogur Kópavogur () is a town in Iceland that is the country's second-largest municipality by population. It lies immediately south of Reykjavík and is part of the Capital Region (Iceland), Capital Region. The name literally means ''seal pup inlet''. ...

. He has two brothers, Axel Birgir, and Margeir Felix, and two sisters, Berglind Sif, and Helga Lind. Björgvin describes himself as sharing a very special bond with Berglind and often talks about how she inspired him.

Career

Björgvin started showing interest sports interest at the age of nine. Björgvin and his friend Steinþór Þorsteinsson started in handball with HK, a team from Kópavogur, but they transferred to Víkingur; after two years with Víkingur they returned to HK. He participated in the 2008 summer Olympics in Beijing as a goalkeeper for the Icelandic national handball team. He played a significant role as goalkeeper, making 75 saves in the tournament and aiding in the team's progression to the finals of the tournament. Iceland was defeated by

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 ...

with a score of 28-23 in the final, finishing the tournament with Iceland's best ever result, a

silver medal A silver medal, in sports and other similar areas involving competition, is a medal made of, or plated with, silver awarded to the second-place finisher, or runner-up, of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, ...

References

External links

* 1985 births Living people Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson Handball players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson Recipients of the Order of the Falcon Olympic medalists in handball Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball-Bundesliga players Icelandic expatriate handball players in Germany Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson SC Magdeburg players Bjorgvin Pall Gustavsson Icelandic expatriate handball players in Denmark Expatriate handball players in Switzerland TVB Stuttgart players Bergischer HC players {{Iceland-handball-bio-stub