46
2008, Beijing, China
Iceland’s men’s handball team won a silver medal. It was
considered a great achievement for such a small nation
to come so close to winning the gold medal in a team
sport. News about this achievement even made the cover
of The New York Times. When the team was playing
its final game of the tournament, almost everyone in
Iceland was watching. For example, people gathered in
the Smáralind shopping centre and watched the game
on a big screen. The nation was very proud of the team’s
achievement and welcomed them home with a parade in
the centre of Reykjavik. Ólafur Stefánsson, the captain
of the team, was voted athlete of year in 2009, the fourth
time he won this honour.
What do you think it takes to
compete at the Olympics?
competition
: keppni
athlete
: íþróttamaður
participate
: taka þátt
honour
: heiður
population
: íbúafjöldi
triple jump
: þrístökk
category
: flokkur
competitor
: keppandi
semi-finals
: undanúrslit
pole vault
: stangarstökk
considered
: talið
achievement
: afrek
nation
: þjóð
captain
: fyrirliði
