Ólafur Stefánsson

Ólafur Indriði Stefánsson (born 3 July 1973) is an Icelandic former handball player who for many years was the captain of the Iceland men's national handball team but announced his international retirement after the 2012 London Olympics. His position was right back. At his peak he was considered to be one of the very best handball players in the world.

As a player for his national team, his goal tally of 1570 is fourth only to Gudjon Valur Sigurdsson, Péter Kovács and Kiril Lazarov. He is also one of the most enduring handball players of all times, having been a senior field player from 1992 until 2015.

He was voted Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year in 2002, 2003, 2008 and 2009. He won silver with the Icelandic handball team at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, as well as bronze at the 2010 European Championship.

Career in clubs Ólafur's career started with the Reykjavík based sports club Valur. With Valur, Ólafur became Icelandic champion 5 times. After Valur, he transferred to the Bundesliga, playing with LTV Wuppertal, then coached by Icelandic coach Viggó Sigurðsson. Later the joined another Icelandic coach, Alfreð Gíslason in SC Magdeburg. In 2003, Ólafur was transferred to top Spanish club BM Ciudad Real. At the pinnacle of his career, Ólafur Stefánsson enjoyed massive success with Ciudad, winning both the Champions League and the Spanish title multiple times. In 2009 he went back to Germany to play with Rhein-Neckar Löwen, then coached by Icelandic national team coach, Guðmundur Guðmundsson. On 1 July 2011 he signed for AG København, but after the club filed for bankruptcy in the summer of 2012 he was without a club for the remainder of the year. On 7 December his agent announced he had signed for the Lekhwiya Handball Team in Doha, Qatar.

Since March 2022 Ólafur works as assistant coach at Erlangen .

Career on the national team In 1995, he was selected to play on the Iceland men's national handball team to take part in the world championships, which were held in Iceland.

He was captain for the national handball team on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (where Iceland won the silver medal), and again at the 2010 European Championship where Iceland finished third.

Family He is the brother of Icelandic basketball player Jón Arnór Stefánsson and former footballer Eggert Stefánsson who played with Fram in Úrvalsdeild karla.

Honours

Valur Reykjavík Icelandic champion: 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996 Icelandic cup: 1993

SC Magdeburg Bundesliga: 2001 DHB-Supercup: 2001 Champions League: 2002 EHF Cup: 1999, 2001 EHF Men's Champions Trophy: 2001, 2002

BM Ciudad Real Liga ASOBAL : 2004, 2007, 2008, 2009 Copa ASOBAL: 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Supercopa ASOBAL: 2005, 2008 EHF Champions League: 2006, 2008, 2009 EHF Men's Champions Trophy: 2005, 2006

AG København Danish Handball League : 2012 National Cup of Denmark: 2011

International 5th place at 1997 World Championship 4th place at 2002 European Championship 2nd at 2008 Olympic Games 3rd place at 2010 European Championship

Individual

Icelandic Sports Personality of the Year: 2002, 2003, 2008, 2009 Top Scorer at 2002 European Championship Top Scorer in Magdeburg's history Top Scorer in 2007-08 EHF Champions League Top Scorer at BM Ciudad Real in 2002-03 season Selected in 2002 European Championship All Star Team Selected in 2004 Olympic Games All Star Team Selected in 2008 Olympic Games All Star Team Selected in 2010 European Championship All Star Team

Orders and special awards Order of the Falcon - Knight Grand Cross in 2008

International goals No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1. 21 January 2000 Rijeka, Croatia 6–9 23–31 2000 European Men's Handball Championship 2. 11–20 3. 22–30 4. 22 January 2000 5–2 25–28 5. 9–7 6. 12–11 7. 19–22 8. 20–24 9. 23 January 2000 1–0 23–25 10. 11–12 11. 20–23 12. 25 January 2000 Zagreb, Croatia 5–3 24–26 13. 7–6 14. 17–14 15. 21–22 16. 27 January 2000 3–3 26–27 17. 5–6 18. 9–10 19. 20–19 20. 29 January 2000 Rijeka, Croatia 8–6 26–25 21. 9–7 22. 25–24