Hreinn Halldórsson

Hreinn Halldórsson (born 3 March 1949) is an Icelandic former track and field athlete who competed in the shot put. His personal best for the discipline was 21.09 m (69 ft 2+1⁄4 in), a former national record.

Hreinn Halldórsson
Medal record
Men's athletics
Representing  Iceland
European Athletics Indoor Championships
Gold medal – first place1977 San SebastiánShot put

He twice represented his country at the Summer Olympics and was the gold medallist at the European Athletics Indoor Championships in 1977 (Iceland's first medallist at the competition).

Career

Halldórsson was affiliated with KR Reykjavík sports club during his career.[1] He won several national titles in his career, including straight titles from 1975 to 1981. His throw of 20.88 m (68 ft 6 in) to win the 1977 Icelandic title remains the best ever mark at the competition.[2]

Internationally, Halldórsson had four consecutive wins at the European Cup qualifiers from 1975 to 1981, including a meet record of 20.54 m (67 ft 4+1⁄2 in).[3] His first major competition was the 1974 European Athletics Championships, but the 25-year-old Halldórsson failed to make it out of the qualifying round.[4] After a ninth-place finish at the 1976 European Athletics Indoor Championships, he entered the 1976 Summer Olympics, where he came 15th in the qualifying round.[1] He topped the podium at the 1977 European Athletics Indoor Championships, taking the first and only continental gold medal of his career. This made him the first Icelandic medallist and champion of the competition and he remains he only male to have topped the podium (Vala Flosadóttir won the women's pole vault in 1996).[5][6] Later that year he threw a personal best of 21.09 m (69 ft 2+1⁄4 in), which ranked him fourth in the world and was an Icelandic national record (he remains the country's second best shot putter after Pétur Guðmundsson).[7]

Halldórsson was unable to translate his indoor win to an outdoor one at the 1978 European Athletics Championships, placing eighth. His season's best of 20.95 m (68 ft 8+3⁄4 in) again ranked him in the top five globally. There were no major events for him to aim for in the 1979 season, but his throw of 20.69 m (67 ft 10+1⁄2 in) that year ranked him in the global top ten.[8] His highest placing at a world-level event came at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where he threw 19.74 m (64 ft 9 in) in qualifying, then 19.55 m (64 ft 1+1⁄2 in) in the final for tenth place.[1] The latter performance was a metre down on his best that season.[8] In his final top level international competition he was sixth at the 1981 European Athletics Indoor Championships.[8]

International competitions
YearCompetitionVenuePositionNotes
1974 European Championships Rome, Italy 16th (q) 18.28 m
1976 European Indoor Championships Munich, Germany 9th 18.41 m
Olympic Games Montreal, Canada 15th (q) 18.93 m
1977 European Indoor Championships San Sebastián, Spain 1st 20.59 m
1978 European Championships Prague, Czechoslovakia 8th 19.34 m
1980 Olympic Games Moscow, Soviet Union 10th 19.55 m
1981 European Indoor Championships Grenoble, France 6th 19.13 m

References
  1. Hreinn Halldórsson Archived 2015-07-13 at the Wayback Machine. Sports Reference. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  2. Icelandic Championships. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  3. European Cup Preliminary Round. GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  4. Men Shot Put Athletics XI European Championships 1974 Roma (ITA) - Friday 06.09. Todor66. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  5. European Athletics Indoor Championships (Men). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  6. European Athletics Indoor Championships (Women). GBR Athletics. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  7. Drög að afrekaskrá FRÍ frá upphafi (in Icelandic). Icelandic Athletics Federation. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
  8. Hreinn Halldorsson. Track and Field Brinkster. Retrieved on 2015-07-12.
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