Guðmundur Þórður Guðmundsson (born 23 December 1960) 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. In 2016, he guided Denmark men's team to gold in the

2016 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 2008, he won silver with the Icelandic men's national team at the 2008 Olympic games in China. As a player, he won the Icelandic championship six times and the Icelandic cup four times with

Víkingur Reykjavík Víkingur can refer to: * The Icelandic and Faroese word for Viking Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pira ...

. Guðmundur also played for the Icelandic national team for a decade, participating in two

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

and two IHF World Handball Championship.

Playing career

Club career

Guðmundur started his senior team career with

in 1979. With Víkingur, he won six national championships and four national Cups. In 1992, he joined Afturelding where he finished his playing career in 1995.

National team career

From 1980 to 1990, Guðmundur played 231 games for the Icelandic national team, scoring 354 goals. With Iceland, he participated in the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

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 ...

as well as the

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. ** Spain and Portugal en ...

and 1990 World Handball Championship

Coaching career

He was the head coach of the

Iceland men's national handball team The Icelandic men's national handball team represents Iceland in international men's handball. It is controlled by the Icelandic Handball Association. Honours Competitive record Champions Runners-up Third place& ...

2001–2004 and again 2008–2012. Under his command the Iceland national team received a silver medal at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

in Beijing and bronze medal at the 2010 European Championship in Austria. Guðmundur is ranked with

Dagur Sigurðsson Dagur Sigurðsson (born 3 April 1973) is an Icelandic handball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the Croatia men's national handball team, Croatian men's national team. He spent his career playing for clubs in Iceland, ...

his fellow countryman, who is the current national team coach of Japan's Men's team and another,

Alfreð Gíslason Alfreð Gíslason (born 7 September 1959) is an Icelandic handball coach and former player who is currently the head coach of the German men's national team. He won titles in Iceland, Germany and Spain as a player before starting his coaching c ...

, coach of

THW Kiel THW Kiel is a professional handball club from Kiel, Germany. Currently, they compete in the Handball-Bundesliga and are the record champion with 23 titles. 2007 and 2012 were the most successful years in the club's history, as THW completed t ...

amongst the best coaches of our era. He has cited former coach

Bogdan Kowalczyk Bogdan Kowalczyk (born 12 August 1946) is a former Polish handball player who competed in the 1972 Summer Olympics and then became a handball coach; he coached the Iceland men's national handball team to victory in the 1989 World Men's Handball ...

as a major influence. In October 2013, it was announced that Guðmundur would take over as the head coach the Danish men's national handball team on 1 July 2014, replacing

Ulrik Wilbek Ulrik Wilbek (born 13 April 1958) is a Danish politician and former professional handball coach who is the incumbent Mayor of Viborg Municipality, serving in office since 2018. He is the most successful Danish team handball coach ever, having wo ...

. On 21 August 2016 Guðmundur led his team to the gold medal 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 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. During the Olympics, Wilbek made two attempts to gain the consent of the Danish players to fire Guðmundur, once during the tournament and then the day after Denmark won the gold. He announced in November 2016 that he would not renew his contract, which was set to expire on 1 July 2017. After his departure from the Denmark team, Guðmundur criticized his predecessor Wilbek's, who was then the head of the

Danish Handball Federation Danish Handball Association () is the national sport governing body, governing body for team handb ...

, repeated attempts to undercut his management of the team during the Olympics. It was reported in April 2017 that he would take over the

Bahrain men's national handball team The Bahrain national handball team is the national handball team of Bahrain Bahrain, officially the Kingdom of Bahrain, is an island country in West Asia. Situated on the Persian Gulf, it comprises a small archipelago of 50 natural islands ...

. In 2018 he returned to coach the Icelandic national team for the third time. He signed a contract for three years. On 11 January 2020, he faced Denmark for the first time since his departure and guided Iceland to a 30–31 victory. In February 2020 Guðmundur took over as a coach at MT Melsungen in the German Bundesliga. He signed a contract to the end of the season but remained coach of the Icelandic national team. In September 2021, he was sacked after 3 league matches only On 21 February 2023, Guðmundur resigned as the manager of the Icelandic national team after five years at the helm.

Honours

Player

;

. * Icelandic champion (6): 1979–80, 1980–81, 1981–82, 1982–83, 1985–86, 1986–87 * Icelandic cup (4): 1982–83, 1983–84, 1984–85, 1985–86

Manager

;Fram * Icelandic champion: 2006 ;Rhein-Neckar Löwen *

EHF Cup The EHF European League is an annual men's handball club competition organised by the European Handball Federation (EHF) since 1981. It is the second-tier competition of European club handball, ranking only below the EHF Champions League. Previo ...

2012–2013 ;Iceland *

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

: **: 2008 * EHF Euro: **: 2010 ;Denmark *

: **: 2016 ;Bahrain *

Asian championship An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics and wate ...

: **: 2018

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gudmundsson, Gudmundur 1960 births Living people Gudmundur Gudmundsson Gudmundur Gudmundsson Olympic handball players for Iceland Handball players at the 1984 Summer Olympics Handball players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Gudmundur Gudmundsson Gudmundur Gudmundsson Gudmundur Gudmundsson Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Handball coaches of international teams Icelandic expatriate handball players in Germany Expatriate handball coaches Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2008 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2012 Summer Olympics Coaches at the 2016 Summer Olympics 20th-century Icelandic sportsmen