Ólafur Jónsson (born 7 December 1949) is an

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

ic former

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 ...

player who competed in the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

Playing career

Jónsson began playing handball at the age of 15 years at Valur Handball. He debuted for the national team at the age of 18. He debuted for the Icelandic national team on 16 November 1968 against West Germany. With Valur he won the Icelandic Championship twice, in 1971 and 1973 and the Icelandic cup in 1974. In 1975 he joined TSV Grün-Weiß Dankersen in the German

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. In his first season he came second in the Bundesliga, and in 1977 he won it. He also won the

DHB-Pokal The DHB-Pokal (English: German Handball Federation Cup) is an elimination handball tournament held annually in Germany. It is the second most important handball national title in the country after the Handball-Bundesliga championship. DHB-Pokal ...

in 1976 and 1979. He also reached the final of the

EHF Cup Winners' Cup The EHF Cup Winners' Cup was the official competition for men's and women's handball clubs of Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocea ...

in 1976, but lost the final 24:26 to BM Granollers. In 1979 he returned to Iceland to join 2nd league team

Þróttur Reykjavík Þróttur may refer to: * Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur Knattspyrnufélagið Þróttur (, ), also referred to as Þróttur Reykjavík or Throttur, is a professional sports club from Reykjavík in Iceland. The club runs a association football, f ...

player-coach A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

. In his first season the team were promoted, and in his second season he finished 2nd in the Icelandic league and won the Icelandic cup. He retired in 1983, but came out of retirement in 1984 to join Valur Reykjavík.

Titles

* Icelandic Championship: ** ''Winner'': 1973 ** ''Second place'': 1971, 1974, 1975, 1980 * Icelandic Cup: ** ''Winner'': 1974, 1981 * German Championship: ** ''Winner'': 1977 ** ''Second place'': 1976 *

German Cup The DFB-Pokal (), also known as the German Cup in English, is a German knockout football cup competition held annually by the German Football Association (DFB). Sixty-four teams participate in the competition, including all clubs from the Bundes ...

: ** ''Winner'': 1976, 1979 *

: ** ''Second place'': 1976

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jonsson, Olafur 1949 births Living people Handball players from Reykjavík Olafur Jonsson Olafur Jonsson Handball players at the 1972 Summer Olympics 20th-century Icelandic sportsmen Handball-Bundesliga players Icelandic expatriate handball players in Germany