Guðmundur Guðmundsson (handballer)

Guðmundur Þórður Guðmundsson (born 23 December 1960) is an Icelandic handball coach and former player.[1] In 2016, he guided Denmark men's team to gold in the 2016 Olympics. In 2008, he won silver with the Icelandic men's national team at the 2008 Olympic games in China.

For other people with the same name, see Guðmundur Guðmundsson (disambiguation).

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Guðmundur.
Guðmundur Guðmundsson
Personal information
Full name Guðmundur Þórður Guðmundsson
Born (1960-12-23) 23 December 1960
Reykjavík, Iceland
Nationality Icelandic
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Playing position Left wing
Senior clubs
Years Team
1979–1992
 Víkingur Reykjavík
1992–1995
 Afturelding
National team
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1990
 Iceland 231 (354)
Teams managed
1989–1992
 Víkingur Reykjavík
1992–1995
 Afturelding
1995–1999
 Fram
1999–2001
 TSV Bayer Dormagen
2001–2004
 Iceland
2005–2007
 Fram
2008–2012
 Iceland
2009–2010
 GOG Svendborg
2010–2014
 Rhein-Neckar Löwen
2014–2017
 Denmark
2017–2018
 Bahrain
2018–2023
 Iceland
2020–2021
 MT Melsungen
2022–
 Fredericia HK
Medal record
Men's handball
 Iceland
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place2008 ChinaTeam
European Championship
Bronze medal – third place2010 Austria
 Denmark
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place2016 Rio de Janeiro

As a player, he won the Icelandic championship six times and the Icelandic cup four times with Víkingur Reykjavík. Guðmundur also played for the Icelandic national team for a decade, participating in two Olympics and two IHF World Handball Championship.[2]

Playing career

Club career

Guðmundur started his senior team career with Víkingur Reykjavík 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.[2]

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 and 1988 Summer Olympics as well as the 1986 and 1990 World Handball Championship[2]

Coaching career

He was the head coach of the Iceland men's national handball team 2001–2004 and again 2008–2012. Under his command the Iceland national team received a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and bronze medal at the 2010 European Championship in Austria.

Guðmundur is ranked with Dagur Sigurðsson his fellow countryman, who is the current national team coach of Japan's Men's team and another, Alfreð Gíslason, coach of THW Kiel amongst the best coaches of our era. He has cited former coach Bogdan Kowalczyk as a major influence.[3]

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 .[4] On 21 August 2016 Guðmundur led his team to the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.[5] 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.[6][7] He announced in November 2016 that he would not renew his contract, which was set to expire on 1 July 2017.[8] After his departure from the Denmark team, Guðmundur criticized his predecessor Wilbek's, who was then the head of the Danish Handball Federation, repeated attempts to undercut his management of the team during the Olympics.[9]

It was reported in April 2017 that he would take over the Bahrain men's national handball team.[10]

In 2018 he returned to coach the Icelandic national team for the third time. He signed a contract for three years.[11] On 11 January 2020, he faced Denmark for the first time since his departure and guided Iceland to a 30–31 victory.[12]

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.[13] In september 2021, he was sacked after 3 league matches only[14]

On 21 February 2023, Guðmundur resigned as the manager of the Icelandic national team after five years at the helm.[15]

Honours

Player
Víkingur Reykjavík.[16]

Manager
Fram
Rhein-Neckar Löwen
Iceland
Denmark
Bahrain

References
  1. "Guðmundur Guðmundsson Biography and Olympic Results". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  2. Sigmundur Ó. Steinarsson (22 February 2023). "Guðmundur með ódrepandi keppnisskap". Handbolti.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  3. Christopher Roth (12 January 2017). "Gudmundur erkender hidsigt temperament: - Jeg er nok verdens dårligste taber" (in Danish). TV 2 Sport. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  4. "Gudmundsson Becomes New Danish Head Coach". European Handball Federation. Archived from the original on 20 January 2019. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  5. "Denmark beat France to handball gold". BBC Sport.
  6. Pétur Hreinsson (27 August 2016). "Ruddalegur Wilbek í valdabaráttu við Guðmund". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  7. "Brjálæði að brottrekstur hafi komið til tals". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 26 August 2016. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  8. Jacob Qvirin Petersen (8 November 2016). "Gudmundur stopper som dansk landstræner" (in Danish). TV 2 Sport. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  9. "Guðmundur: Ekki talað við Wilbek síðan á ÓL – Vísir". visir.is. Retrieved 13 June 2017.
  10. "Þetta er ákveðið ævintýri". Retrieved 11 April 2017.
  11. Þorkell Gunnar Sigurbjörnsson (6 February 2018). "Guðmundur gerir 3 ára samning við HSÍ". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  12. Henry Birgir Gunnarsson (12 January 2020). "Guðmundur: Þessi sigur er á topp fimm hjá mér" (in Icelandic). Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  13. Valur Páll Eiríksson (26 February 2020). "Guðmundur tekur við Melsungen". RÚV (in Icelandic). Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  14. "MT Melsungen sacks Gudmundur Gudmundsson after 3 league matches". handball-world. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
  15. Sindri Sverrisson (21 February 2023). "Guðmundur hættur með landsliðið". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  16. "HSÍ". hsi.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 22 March 2019.
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