Gunnar Huseby

Gunnar Alexander Huseby (4 November 1923 – 28 May 1995) was an Icelandic track and field athlete who competed in the shot put and discus throw events.

Biography Huseby won consecutive gold medals at the European Athletics Championships in 1946 and 1950, becoming Iceland's first European champion in athletics. This placed him among the country's first top international sportsmen, following its independence in 1944. He remains the only Icelandic athlete to win two European athletics titles. he competed in various athletics events as a youth. Gradually he began to focus on throwing events as he grew older. He reached the top levels of shot putting in 1944, throwing a mark of , which ranked him fourth in the world that season (in the inter-war period).

European gold medals Huseby's first international medal came at the 1946 European Athletics Championships – the first after the end of World War II. Having already set an Icelandic record of and with international athletic competition regaining momentum, This made him Iceland's first ever European champion in athletics. He also competed in the discus, finishing 14th in qualifying with .

He missed the 1948 season, meaning he did not compete London Olympics, but returned in strong form in 1949. That year he set a new Icelandic and Nordic record of in Haugesund, bettering the previous mark by Roland Nilsson of Sweden. He also set a new Nordic record for the two-handed shot put at the same competition; he achieved a distance of throwing with his left arm, meaning a record total of .

He returned to defend his shot put title at the 1950 European Athletics Championships and was easily the best in the field, setting a championship record of to top qualifying before going further in the final with a national record and lifetime best of . Huseby was a large distance ahead of runner-up Angiolo Profeti, who managed a little over fifteen metres.

Later career He developed alcoholism during this period and his approach to training and competition earned him a warning from Frjálsíþróttasamband Íslands (the national body for athletics) and an order that further bad conduct would warrant an international ban. In 1952 he confessed to assault and robbery of a man in Reykjavík and was sentenced to twelve months in prison. This meant he missed his second opportunity to compete at the Olympics, which was held in Helsinki that year.

Upon his release, he set an Icelandic indoor record, but the governing body had disagreements with him returning to the national championships – a fact which attracted criticism in the press, given Huseby's standing as one of the nation's top sportsmen. Eventually he was given his competition license and went on to represent Iceland at the 1958 European Athletics Championships. His form was not sufficient to win a third straight title, however, and his best toss of in the final placed the 35-year-old in 17th overall.