Guðlaug Edda Hannesdóttir (born 8 December 1994) is an Icelandic

triathlete A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of swimming, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the time transitioning between the ...

. She competed in the women's triathlon at the

2024 Summer Olympics The 2024 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad () and branded as Paris 2024, were an international multi-sport event held in France from 26 July to 11 August 2024, with several events started from 24 July. P ...

in Paris, France. She was also selected as Iceland's flag bearer.

Biography

Edda was born in 1994 in

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

, Iceland. She grew up in Iceland and attended the

University of Iceland The University of Iceland ( ) is a public research university in Reykjavík, Iceland, and the country's oldest and largest institution of higher education. Founded in 1911, it has grown steadily from a small civil servants' school to a modern co ...

, graduating with a degree in political science. She worked for a time as a journalist before competing full-time in the sport of

triathlon A triathlon is an endurance multisport race consisting of Swimming (sport), swimming, Cycle sport, cycling, and running over various distances. Triathletes compete for fastest overall completion time, racing each segment sequentially with the ...

, consisting of running, swimming and cycling events. Little public funding is available for Icelandic sports, and as such, Edda often paid the costs herself to travel and attend international triathlon competitions. She trained with the Danish national triathlon team and in 2018, Edda won the women's championship at the World Triathlon Aquathlon Championships. The following year, she joined the Icelandic athletic club Breiðablik. In 2020, she won the Icelandic national championship in the

10K run The 10K run is a long-distance road running competition over a distance of . Also referred to as the 10K road race, 10 km, or simply 10K, it is one of the most common types of road running event, alongside the shorter 5K and longer half ...

with the all-time second-best mark at the competition. In 2021, Edda suffered a major injury that required surgery and caused her to miss significant time. She rebounded in 2022, but then suffered a hip injury in early 2023 requiring another surgery, and again resulting in her missing significant time. She had hoped to qualify for the

, but her injury put it in doubt, with her telling

World Athletics World Athletics, formerly known as the International Amateur Athletic Federation and International Association of Athletics Federations and formerly abbreviated as the IAAF, is the international sports governing body, governing body for the sport ...

that she remembered "sitting in a hotel bed and I thought 'there's no chance it's going to happen'". However, she performed well at the Africa Cup in early 2024 and subsequently had a string of successes at competitions: in a five-week span, she won medals at three separate competitions in Asia. Her performances significantly improved her worldwide ranking, putting her in the top 180 and in contention for a potential Olympics spot. Through applications by the

National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (, ÍSÍ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Iceland, and the highest authority for sporting activity in the country. The main tasks of the ÍSÍ are to promote, coordinate and org ...

(ISI), she was ultimately chosen to compete at the 2024 Olympics by the Tripartite Commission, becoming the first Olympic triathlete from Iceland. Along with Hákon Þór Svavarsson, she was named the Iceland flag bearer at the Olympic opening ceremony.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hannesdóttir, Edda 1994 births Living people Triathletes Icelandic sportswomen Olympic athletes for Iceland University of Iceland alumni Triathletes at the 2024 Summer Olympics