Vilhjálmur Einarsson
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
Olympic medal record | |||
Men's athletics | |||
---|---|---|---|
Silver | 1956 Melbourne | Triple jump |
Vilhjálmur Einarsson (born June 5, 1934) is a former Icelandic athlete, and triple-jump silver medalist at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia. Vilhjálmur grew up in the East-Icelandic fishing village of Reyðarfjörður and is the son of Einar Stefánsson and Sigríður Vilhjálmsdóttir.
In 1956 Vilhjálmur set a new Olympic Record by jumping 16.26 m in the triple jump, only to be surpassed by Brazil's Adhemar da Silva. This was the most unexpected result of the Olympics that year. His personal best was 16.70 m set in 1960 in Laugardalsvöllur, Iceland.
Vilhjálmur has also been headmaster of three schools; Héraðsskólinn in Laugarvatn, Reykholtsskóli in Reykholt, and Menntaskólinn in Egilsstaðir, where he currently works as a part-time mathematics teacher. He is also an accomplished painter, specialising in landscape painting.
He attended Dartmouth College. His son Einar Vilhjálmsson later represented Iceland in the men's javelin throw at the Summer Olympics (1984, 1988 and 1992).