Valbjörn Þorláksson (9 June 1934 – 3 December 2009) was an Icelandic

track and field Track and field (or athletics in British English) is a sport that includes Competition#Sports, athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name used in North America is derived from where the sport takes place, a ru ...

athlete who competed in the

decathlon The decathlon is a combined event in athletics consisting of 10 track and field events. The word "decathlon" was formed, in analogy to the word "pentathlon", from Greek δέκα (''déka'', meaning "ten") and ἄθλος (''áthlos'', or ἄ ...

and

pole vault Pole vaulting, also known as pole jumping, is a track and field event in which an athlete uses a long and flexible pole, usually made from fiberglass or carbon fiber, as an aid to jump over a #bar, bar. Pole jumping was already practiced by the ...

in the

1960 It is also known as the "Year of Africa" because of major events—particularly the independence of seventeen African nations—that focused global attention on the continent and intensified feelings of Pan-Africanism. Events January * Janu ...

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

, and

1968 Events January–February * January 1968, January – The I'm Backing Britain, I'm Backing Britain campaign starts spontaneously. * January 5 – Prague Spring: Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Cze ...

Summer

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 ...

. The

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

stadium

Valbjarnarvöllur Valbjarnarvöllur (, or more precisely 'Valbjörn Stadium', named after the track and field athlete Valbjörn Þorláksson), also known as Eimskipsvöllurinn (, or 'Eimskip Stadium') for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Reykjavík, ...

is named after him.

Career

Þorláksson's best Olympic result was in 1964; he finished 12th in the decathlon. He finished 26th in the same event in 1968. Þorláksson had only modest success in open competition, but enjoyed some success in master's track meets, competing at least into the early 1980s. At one time, he held the unofficial 42 inch hurdles record for men over 45 years of age with a time of 15.1.

Died

Þorláksson died on 3 December 2009.

References

External links

Valbjörn Þorláksson's profile at Sports Reference.com

Valbjörn Þorláksson's obituary
1934 births 2009 deaths Valbjorn Þorláksson Valbjorn Þorláksson Valbjorn Þorláksson Athletes (track and field) at the 1960 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1964 Summer Olympics Athletes (track and field) at the 1968 Summer Olympics 20th-century Icelandic sportsmen {{Iceland-athletics-bio-stub