You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
GUÐNI VALUR<br />
GUÐNASON<br />
KRINGLUKASTARI<br />
Árangur<br />
2020<br />
Íslandsmet 69.35m.<br />
Nr. 5 á Heimslista fullorðinna.<br />
Nr. 2 á Evrópulista fullorðinna.<br />
Stigahæsta afrek Íslendings frá upphafi.
STYRKTARUMSÓKN<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> er fæddur 11. Október 1995 og er<br />
því 25 ára gamall. Hann æfir frjálsíþróttir með<br />
ÍR undir styrkri og faglegri handleiðslu Péturs<br />
Guðmundsonar kastþjálfara, Íslandsmethafa í<br />
kúluvarpi og Ólympíufara, og hefur gert það<br />
síðustu sex ár og Óðinn Björn Ólympíufari í<br />
kúluvarpi sér um styrktarþjálfunina.<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> hefur æft kringlukast, sem er mikil<br />
tæknigrein, í 7 ár en áður æfði hann golf. <strong>Guðni</strong><br />
er þrátt fyrir þennann stutta tíma í<br />
frjálsíþróttum fremsti kringlukastari landsins og<br />
af mörgum talinn geta orðið besti<br />
kringlukastari heims og eru eftirfarandi tölur<br />
því til stuðnings.<br />
Nr. 5 á Heimslista fullorðinna 2020<br />
https://www.worldathletics.org/records/toplists/throws/discusthrow/outdoor/men/senior/2020?regionType=world&page=1&bestR<br />
esultsOnly=true<br />
Nr. 2 á Evrópulista fullorðinna 2020<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> var valinn frjálsíþróttakarl ÍR 2016,<br />
2017, 2018, 2019 og 2020, íþróttakarl ÍR 2016,<br />
2018, 2020 og frjálsþróttakarl ársins 2016,<br />
2018 og 2020 af Frjálsíþróttasambandi Íslands<br />
og ber þá titla með stolti. Hann varð í 7 sæti, í<br />
vali samtaka íþróttafréttamanna, um<br />
íþróttamann ársins.<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> er í landsliði Íslands í frjálsíþróttum<br />
og er Íslandsmeistari í ungmennaflokki 2014,<br />
2015, 2016 og 2017, og 2014, 2015, 2016,<br />
2017, 2019 og 2020 í fullorðinsflokki en komst<br />
ekki til að verja íslandsmeistaratitilinn 2018<br />
vegna þátttöku á erlendu móti.<br />
Lengsta kast Guðna Vals hingað til er 69.35<br />
metra og sló hann með því 31 árs gamalt<br />
Íslandsmet Vésteins Hafsteinssonar nú í haust.<br />
Með þessu kasti sló hann ekki bara<br />
Íslandsmetið í kringlukasti heldur náði hann<br />
stigahæsta árangri frá upphafi frjálsíþrótta á<br />
Íslandi.<br />
http://fri.is/afrekaskra/keppendur/kep44135.htm<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> varð sigurvegari í kringlukasti á<br />
Smáþjóðaleikunum fram fóru á Íslandi sumarið<br />
2015 sem og í San Marino 2017. Hann sigraði<br />
einnig á Smáþjóðameistaramótinu sem var<br />
haldið var á Möltu 2016 og Lichtenstein 2018.<br />
Hann vann einnig Manchester International<br />
sem haldið var í lok ágúst 2018. <strong>Guðni</strong> keppti á<br />
EM í frjálsum íþróttum sem haldið var í<br />
Amsterdam í júlí 2016 en hann náði lágmarki á<br />
það mót, með góðum árangri sínum haustið<br />
2015.<br />
Frjálsíþróttakarl ÍR: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 og 2020<br />
Frjálsíþróttakarl: 2016, 2018, og 2020<br />
Íþróttakarl ÍR: 2016, 2018 og 2020<br />
Ólympíufari 2016<br />
Heimsmeistaramót 2019<br />
Evrópumeistaramót 2016 og 2018
STÓRMÓT<br />
Á EM 2016 kastaði <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> lengra en<br />
nokkur Íslendingur hafi gert á stórmóti, 61.20m<br />
Á EM 2018 kastaði hann 61.35 metra en hann<br />
tryggði sér inn á mótið mánuði áður með kast<br />
upp á 65.53 metra sem setti hann í 14 sæti á<br />
evrópulistanum. Þrátt fyrir einstaklega stuttan<br />
feril var hann meðal keppenda á<br />
Ólympíuleikunum sem haldnir voru í Rio de<br />
Janero í Brasilíu í ágúst 2016. Þar kastaði hann<br />
60.45 metra og varð í 21. sæti af 35<br />
keppendum.<br />
Eftir Ólympíuleikana fór <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> beint til<br />
Finnlands og varð þar norðurlanda- og<br />
eystrasaltsmeistari 22 ára og yngri með kast<br />
upp á 61.01 metra. <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> náði lámarkinu<br />
inn á EM U23 2017 og varð hann í 5 sæti þrátt<br />
fyrir að hafa lent í meiðslum sem hindruðu<br />
hann frá því að kasta í tæpan mánuð fram að<br />
mótinu. Auk þess fór hann á mörg smærri mót<br />
erlendis og æfingabúðir.<br />
Allur Allur þessi frábæri árangur verður að teljast<br />
undraverðurþar þar sem sem <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> hefur aðeins hefur<br />
æft aðeins kringlukast æft kringlukast í sjö ár. í sjö ár.<br />
Það helsta sem er á döfinni hjá Guðna Val<br />
næstu árin í grófum dráttum eru<br />
Ólympíuleikarnir í Tókýó 2021. HM í Eugene<br />
Oregon USA 2022, EM í Munich í Þýskalandi<br />
2022, HM í Budapest 2023 og Ólympíuleikarnir<br />
í París 2024.<br />
Smáþjóðaleikarnir eru á annað hvert ár, ásamt<br />
fjölda annarra landliðsverkefna. Einnig er<br />
markmiðið að verða fastagestur í sterkustu<br />
mótaröð sem er í boði, Diamond league og er<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> næstur þar inn í röðinni.<br />
Ólympíuleikarnir í Tókýó 2021<br />
HM í Eugene USA 2022<br />
EM í Munich Þýskalandi 2022<br />
HM í Budapest 2023<br />
Ólympíuleikarnir í París 2024<br />
Í maí 2019 keppti <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> á móti í Eistlandi,<br />
þar kastaði hann 64.77 metra og tryggði<br />
honum 30 sæti á heimslistanum og keppnisrétt<br />
á HM í Doha. <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> var eini keppandinn á<br />
HM sem keppti fyrir Íslands hönd en náði sér<br />
ekki á strik vegan veikinda og meiðsla.<br />
Árið 2020 er búið að vera mjög sérstakt ár<br />
vegna COVID19, stórmót voru felld niður eða<br />
frestað, æfingaferðir féllu niður og æfingar féllu<br />
niður stóran hluta ársins eða voru takmarkaðar.<br />
En þrátt fyrir allt sló <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> 31 árs gamalt<br />
Íslandsmet í kringlukasti 16. september og<br />
kastaði 69.35 metra.
Til að eiga betri möguleika á að sigrast á<br />
markmiðum sínum þá þarf <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong><br />
stuðning.<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> lauk sveinsprófi í rafvirkjun 2017<br />
og vann sem rafvirki til haustsins 2019, er hann<br />
hóf nám í íþróttafræði við Háskóla Reykjavíkur.<br />
Til að geta haldið sér í fremstu röð er<br />
nauðsynlegt að komast í æfingabúðir í hlýrra<br />
loftslagi en er á Íslandi, ásamt því að taka þátt í<br />
keppnum erlendis.<br />
Hægt er að sjá umfjöllunina á slóðinni:<br />
https://www.ruv.is/frett/gudni-hefur-burdi-tilad-verda-bestur-i-heimi<br />
Ísland er lítið land og fámenn þjóð en með<br />
stóra drauma. Það eru íþróttamenn eins og<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> sem lyfta anda landans í<br />
hverdagsleikanum með krafti sínum og<br />
dugnaði.<br />
RÚV var með umfjöllun um Guðna Val í<br />
íþróttaþætti á páskanum 2016 (27. Mars) þar<br />
sem Vésteinn Hafsteinsson, einn fremsti<br />
kringlukastsþjálfari heims fór um hann<br />
lofsamlegum orðum.<br />
Einnig er hérna stutt viðtal sem tekið var við<br />
hann fyrir EM 2018 stuttu eftir að hann bætti<br />
sinn persónulega árangur í 65.53m<br />
https://www.visir.is/g/2018180729192<br />
Hér má sjá Íslandsmetkastið 69.35 metra:<br />
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmteEReAnW<br />
o<br />
Hér má lesa grein sem birtis í World Athletics.<br />
14.janúar 2021<br />
After threatening 70-metre barrier, Gudnason<br />
emerges as Tokyo medal threat | FEATURE |<br />
World Athletics<br />
Tilgangurinn með þessari samantekt og kynningu á Guðna Val, er<br />
að kanna áhuga hjá þínu fyrirtæki til að styðja við bakið á Guðna<br />
Val og hans verkefnum á árinu 2021 og jafnvel lengra fram í<br />
tímann.
FRAMÚRSKARANDI<br />
ÍÞRÓTTAFÓLK FRÍ<br />
Framúrskarandi íþróttafólk eru þeir einstaklingar sem skipa sér með árangri sínum í fremstu<br />
röð íþróttafólks í heiminum.<br />
Þeir sem ná í úrslitakeppni á stórmótum, Ólympíuleikum, HM eða EM, og enda meðal 12<br />
fremstu eða ná að vera meðal 24 fremstu á heimslista IAAF eða 12 fremstu á Evrópulista<br />
EAA. <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> <strong>Guðnason</strong> úr ÍR hefur náð þessum áfanga. Hann er í 5. Sæti heimslistans og<br />
í 2. Sæti Evrópulistans í kringlukasti. Hann náði lágmarki og keppni á EM í Berlín 2018 þar<br />
sem hann endaði í 16. sæti. Besti árangur hans er 69.35 metrar og gefur 1232 stig. Þess má<br />
geta að 1232 stig er hæsta sem íslendingur hefur náð frá upphafi í IAAF stigum.<br />
Á PERSÓNULEGU NÓTUNUM<br />
Við sem stöndum við hlið Guðna Vals<br />
höfum mikla trú á því að hann eigi eftir að<br />
ná langt. Hann er mjög duglegur við<br />
æfingar og vinnu og leggur sig fram við<br />
hvert smáatriði, sem er mjög mikilvægt.<br />
Hann gefur sér þó tíma til að sinna<br />
verkefnum sem hans félag og landsamband<br />
stendur fyrir, hann kemur vel fyrir í<br />
viðtölum og er léttur og jákvæður og ber af<br />
sér góðan þokka, síns félags,<br />
íþróttahreyfingar landsins og getur einnig<br />
verið góður fulltrúi metnaðarfulls<br />
fyrirtækis.<br />
Ef þitt fyrirtæki er tilbúið í samstarf við<br />
okkur þá erum við mjög þakklát, við<br />
horfum ekki aðeins til fjármunanna heldur<br />
einnig þeirra staðreyndar að íþróttamaður<br />
sem hlýtur aðstoð/stuðning frá fyrirtæki<br />
eða einstaklingi lítur á það sem<br />
persónulega viðurkenningu sem hefur góð<br />
áhrif á sjálfstraust og getu. Stuðningurinn<br />
er því margþættur.<br />
Við bjóðum upp á að setja nafn og logo<br />
fyrirtækisins á fatnað sem hann æfir í og<br />
klæðist í viðtölum, eins væri það sett inn á<br />
heimasíðu frjálsíþróttadeildar ÍR og<br />
Facebook síðu hans Team <strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong>.<br />
Einnig er hann virkur á Instagram og<br />
Snapchat. Kynningarmöguleikar eru margir,<br />
t.d. væri hægt að nefna nokkur mót eftir<br />
nafni fyrirtækisins og ekki má gleyma að<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> stefnir hraðbyri að því að ná á<br />
verðlaunapall á stórmóti og væri gaman ef<br />
hann væri með öflugan styrktaraðila. Er<br />
það gerist, gæti hann þakkað fyrir sig þá á<br />
viðeigandi hátt. Við erum tilbúin að koma<br />
og heimsækja fyrirtækið og starfsmenn ef<br />
það væri áhugi fyrir því. Allt sem þið hafið<br />
áhuga á að gera sem gæti verið eflandi og<br />
jákvætt.<br />
Virðingafyllst:<br />
Hafdís Elín Helgadóttir<br />
mailto:haddy7@simnet.is<br />
<strong>Guðni</strong> <strong>Valur</strong> <strong>Guðnason</strong><br />
mailto:gudnivalur95@gmail.com
Viðtal við Guðna Val<br />
á heimasíðu World<br />
Athletics 14.Janúar 2021<br />
After threatening 70-metre<br />
barrier, Gudnason emerges as<br />
Tokyo medal threat<br />
Reflecting on the men’s discus results from the 2019 World Athletics Championships, it<br />
is a little hard to believe that the thrower who finished plum last in qualification would<br />
set a stunning Icelandic record of 69.35m in 2020. But that is the unlikely journey<br />
undertaken by Gudni <strong>Valur</strong> Gudnason.<br />
The 1.98m tall thrower unquestionably had an off day in Doha, best explained by a<br />
period of serious illness and prolonged injury over the ten months in the lead-up to the<br />
marquee event of the 2019 campaign.<br />
However, for Gudnason to advance his previous best by close to four metres and end<br />
the season as No.5 on the 2020 world list was a performance few would have<br />
predicted.<br />
With the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics set to take place in July and August, the 25-yearold<br />
is among a crop of potential medallists in the men’s discus, where if his plan fall into<br />
place, he could become the first male Olympic track and field medallist from Iceland<br />
since Vilhjalmur Einarsson, who won triple jump silver at the 1956 Games in<br />
Melbourne.<br />
Swimming, basketball and golf lead to shot and discus<br />
Based in the town of Mosfellsbaer just outside of the capital Reykjavik, Gudnason is the<br />
latest powerhouse to emerge from the small north Atlantic nation with a reputation for<br />
strongmen.<br />
Three times in the past an Icelandic athlete has secured the World’s Strongest Man<br />
title, a fact Gudnason partly attributes to his compatriots’ love of milk.
“When I was younger, I used to drink two litres a day,” he says. “I think maybe<br />
that’s what makes us so strong.”<br />
With a huge passion for all sport, Gudnason was an accomplished swimmer and<br />
basketball player in his youth but his main pursuit as a child was golf and today he<br />
plays off a handicap of 3.5.<br />
His athletics journey began at school, where at the age of “13 or 14” he set an<br />
Icelandic age-group record in the shot put.<br />
Dismissing the feat at the time because he believed the shot was “probably too<br />
light” it was only later that he revived the prospect of once again throwing the<br />
shot – initially to pursue a desire to travel overseas.<br />
“A friend and I really wanted to travel abroad but like a group of 16-year-olds we<br />
had no money to do so,” he recalls with a chuckle.<br />
“It is then I thought maybe I should throw the shot, because if I reach the national<br />
team I’ll get to travel abroad for free.”<br />
Gudnason joined his local athletics club and quickly connected with his current<br />
coach, Petur Gudmundsson.<br />
Within just two years of taking up athletics he realised his dream to represent his<br />
country overseas, competing in shot and discus in a Nordic junior match in<br />
Kristiansand, Norway.<br />
Yet not only was he earning international experience in 2014, that same year he<br />
converted from shot to discus after being crowned national champion and setting<br />
a PB of 53.25m.<br />
“Not much was happening for me at that time in the shot, so I decided to try<br />
discus. I didn’t really train for it, I just competed but quickly got a feel for the<br />
event.<br />
“My arm length at 2.06m is slightly longer than my height but I think why the<br />
event works is because of my sense of timing developed as a golfer,” he adds.<br />
Under Gudmundsson’s tutelage – a man Gudnason describes as having a “good<br />
eye for technique” but also who gives his athletes “a lot of freedom” – the discus<br />
convert made significant technical progress and in 2015 landed the Games of the<br />
Small States title in Reykjavik and extended his PB out to a national U23 record of<br />
63.50m.<br />
Aged just 19 at the time, Gudnason clearly had a rich talent but it took maturity to<br />
fully understand the size of his progression.<br />
“At the time 63.50m seemed like no big deal,” he explains. “But over time I<br />
understood that many people train their whole lives and don’t even throw 60<br />
metres. I don’t think I’d been in the sport long enough to understand what a big<br />
deal it was.”
Olympic debut at 20<br />
In only his third year of international competition Gudnason represented his country<br />
at the 2016 Rio Olympics throwing 60.45m for 21st in qualification. Satisfied to<br />
register a 60-metre plus throw in the cauldron of Olympic competition, injuries,<br />
however, were to impact his 2017 campaign. That year he finished a solid fifth at the<br />
European U23 Championships in Bydgoszcz and recorded a season’s best of 60.94m<br />
but struggled to recapture his best form.<br />
After plateauing for a couple of seasons, the powerfully-built thrower – who weighs<br />
in at around 140kg – launched the 2kg discus to a big new lifetime best of 65.53m in<br />
his homeland during the 2018 campaign.<br />
“It was amazing for me, a moment I’d be waiting for some time,” he recalls. “On<br />
release actually didn’t like the throw so I was extremely surprised with how far it<br />
went. I also managed to throw over the qualification mark for the Europeans, which<br />
was a big relief.”<br />
Despite throwing well in warm-up, Gudnason then underperformed at the<br />
European Championships in Berlin.<br />
Competing in extreme heat he placed 16th in qualification with a best of 61.36m.<br />
Frustrated he let off some steam post-competition with several throws in the warmup<br />
facility, where he achieved one throw of 66 metres – a performance which would<br />
have earned him bronze had he repeated it in the final.<br />
More injuries and illness strike in 2019<br />
Yet the frustration of the way he performed in the German capital was to prove<br />
inconsequential compared to the medical traumas he suffered during the winter of<br />
2018-19.<br />
In December he underwent appendicitis but five days after coming out of surgery<br />
he suddenly started to experience pain he likened to “a knife going through my<br />
abdominals” while putting up Christmas decorations at home.<br />
He was rushed to the hospital where he was diagnosed with Peritonitis, a lifethreatening<br />
infection caused by a leakage from the burst appendix.<br />
Treated by antibiotics to rid him of the infection which was attacking his essential<br />
organs, Gudnason went through a three-week ordeal in a Reykjavik hospital where<br />
he shed more than 20kg in weight.<br />
While personally never fearing for his life, he sees now, when looking back at<br />
photographs during that period, why people would have been concerned.<br />
“I looked extremely sick, just like a ghost,” he recounts.
Despite the serious nature of the illness, he was back throwing again within six weeks of his<br />
release from hospital. He quickly piled back on the weight and threw an impressive 64.77m in<br />
Randvere, Estonia, in May.<br />
But in his next competition at the Small States of Europe event in Montenegro he picked up a<br />
groin injury which was to badly hamper the remainder of the season.<br />
Doha disappointment<br />
He secured the national title in July but did not compete again for two-and-a-half<br />
months and perhaps understandably, given his lack of competition he could only<br />
summon a best of 53.91m in Doha to finish 32nd and last in World Championship<br />
qualification.<br />
“I threw as hard as I could but at that time I was kind of pissed and angry at myself<br />
for not throwing further. Although it was important not to dwell on it for long.”<br />
Returning to winter training – where he uses an impressive indoor facility in Reykjavik<br />
– he was all set for a strong campaign in the countdown to the Tokyo Olympics only<br />
for the global pandemic to hit.<br />
National record, 70-metre barrier threatened<br />
Like so many athletes around the world he no longer had access to training facilities.<br />
He was forced to improvise and train from home but following the lifting of the<br />
restrictions he opted to compete in seven domestic discus competitions in an effort to<br />
extract something from what had been a hugely frustrating year.<br />
In this third discus competition of the summer he achieved a handy 62.76m throw but<br />
it was on 16 September in Reykjavik when he unleashed his 69.35m effort to shatter<br />
the national record.<br />
“I woke up in a good mood and said to my coach later that morning, ‘I have a good<br />
feeling about today’. It was one of those competitions when I just threw further and<br />
further. I went out to a PB of 65.71m in round three before throwing 69.35m in round<br />
five. Honestly, I’m not sure I could have thrown that any better. My grip was perfect.<br />
Following the weird season we’d had it just seemed ridiculous to have thrown that far.<br />
“Everything went well for me that day. It meant a lot for me to break Vesteinn<br />
Hafsteinsson’s 31-year-old national record (of 67.64m). It was a long-term goal of<br />
mine.”<br />
Given the journey he has experienced to this point in his career, Gudnason is more<br />
than justified in citing his mental strength as his greatest quality.<br />
But given his breakthrough throw in 2020, what does he hope to achieve in 2021?<br />
“I just want to continue to do my best,” he says. “The first goal is to reach the Olympic<br />
final and once there I want to achieve a place in the top three – that is my ultimate<br />
goal.”<br />
Steve Landells for World Athletics