Þórir Haraldsson became the first Icelander to earn a world championship title in handball yesterday when the team that he coaches, the Norwegian national team in women’s handball, beat France 32-24 in the World Cup final in Brazil.
Norway now boasts all three big international title as the reigning World, Olympic and European champion in women’s handball, Morgunblaðið reports.
“I’m proud and happy,” Þórir said of his team’s success when interviewed by Norwegian television channel TV2 after the game yesterday.
Þórir has lived in Norway for 25 years and has been head coach of the national team in women’s handball for three years; before that he had served as the team’s assistant coach for a few years.
Iceland qualified for the World Cup for the first time this year and made it to the 16-team playoffs in Brazil before being knocked out by Russia, the standing world champion, on December 11.
Before Iceland’s game against Norway, which Norway won by 13 goals, Þórir sang along with both national hymns and commented afterwards that the Icelandic team had shown a lot of promise.
Click here to read more about Iceland’s performance at the World Cup.
ESA
