Guðbjörg Norðfjörð

This is an Icelandic name. The last name is patronymic, not a family name; this person is referred to by the given name Guðbjörg.

Guðbjörg Norðfjörð Elíasdóttir (born 8 April 1972) is an Icelandic former basketball player and the current chairman of the Icelandic Basketball Federation. As a player, she was named the Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year in 1999 and was a seven-time selection to the Úrvalsdeild kvenna Domestic All-First Team. Guðbjörg won the Icelandic championship three times and the Icelandic Cup four times. She was a member of the Icelandic national basketball team from 1990 to 2002.^[1]

Guðbjörg Norðfjörð
15th Chairman of KKÍ
Incumbent
Assumed office 2023
Deputy	Birna Lárusdóttir
Preceded by	Hannes S. Jónsson
Personal details
Born	(1972-04-08) 8 April 1972 (age 52)
Nationality	Icelandic
Basketball career
Career information
Playing career	1986–2002
Position	Forward
Number	7, 14
Career history
1986–1992	Haukar
1992–2001	KR
2001	Haukar
2001–2002	KR
Career highlights and awards
As player: Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year (1999) Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year (1997) 7x Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team (1993, 1994, 1996–2000) 3x Icelandic champion (1999, 2001, 2002) 4x Icelandic Basketball Cup (1992, 1999, 2001, 2002) 2x Icelandic Supercup (1999) Icelandic Company Cup (2000) Úrvalsdeild scoring leader (1999)
Career Úrvalsdeild kvenna statistics
Points	3,122 (11.8 ppg)
Games	264
Medals Women's basketball Representing  Iceland Promotion Cup 1996 Malta National Team 2002 Andorra National Team Games of the Small States of Europe 1991 Andorra National Team 1993 Malta National Team 1995 Luxembourg National Team 1997 Iceland National Team

In 2001, Guðbjörg was voted as one of the twelve players on the Icelandic team of the 20th century.^[2][3]

Playing career

Club career

Guðbjörg started her career with Haukar where she won the Icelandic Cup in 1992. Despite being reigning cup champions, lack of funds and interest from the Haukar basketball department resulted in the team folding before the start of the 1992–93 season, forcing Guðbjörg to transfer to KR.^[4]

In 1999, she helped KR go undefeated through the league and cup, winning both the national championship and the Icelandic Cup.^[5]

Guðbjörg missed the majority of the 2000–2001 season after the birth of her first child. She returned before the end of the season, averaging 6.8 points in 4 regular season games. In the playoffs, she helped KR go undefeated, sweeping ÍS in the semi-finals and Keflavík in the finals.^[6][7]

In September 2001, Guðbjörg announced that she would not play with KR during the season^[8] and a few days later she signed with her hometown team Haukar in the second-tier 2. deild kvenna.^[9] On 5 November, in her first official game back with Haukar, Guðbjörg scored 26 points in a victory against Laugdælir.^[10] On 11 November, she had 23 points and 11 rebounds in a loss against Keflavík in the Company Cup.^[11] That turned out to be her last game with Haukar as a few days later she transferred back to KR.^[12] Without Guðbjörg, KR had stumbled out of the gates, losing 4 out of its first 9 games. With her, the team finished with 9 victories in its last 11 games, good for second place in the league.^[13] For the season she averaged a team leading 16.6 points per game while shooting 40.6% from three point range^[14] and league leading 93.6% from free throws.^[15] In the playoffs, Guðbjörg helped KR overcome a 0-2 deficit against ÍS in the Úrvalsdeild finals to win the national championship for the second year in a row.^[16][17]

After playing for the national team during the summer, Guðbjörg retired from basketball in August 2002.^[18] Over her Úrvalsdeild career, Guðbjörg scored 3,122 points in 264 games.^[19]

National team career

Guðbjörg played 53 games for the Icelandic national basketball team between 1990 and 2002.^[20][21] She retired following the 2002 European Promotion Cup.

Icelandic Basketball Federation

Guðbjörg was elected as the vice-chairman of the Icelandic Basketball Federation in 2006, where she served until 2007, and again in 2009.^[1] In March 2023, she took over as chairman after Hannes S. Jónsson stepped down.^[22][23]

Awards, titles and accomplishments

Individual awards

• Icelandic basketball team of the 20th century: 2000
• Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year: 1999
• Úrvalsdeild Domestic Player of the Year: 1997
• Úrvalsdeild Domestic All-First Team (7): 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000

Titles

• Icelandic champion (3): 1999, 2001, 2002
• Icelandic Basketball Cup (4): 1992, 1999, 2001, 2002
• Icelandic Supercup: 1999
• Icelandic Company Cup: 2000

Accomplishments

• Úrvalsdeild scoring leader: 1999
• Úrvalsdeild three-point percent leader (2): 1997, 1999
• Úrvalsdeild free throw percent leader: 2002

References

1. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (29 May 2009). "Guðbjörg Norðfjörð aftur orðin varaformaður KKÍ". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 January 2019.
2. "Lið aldarinnar hjá KKÍ tilkynnt í bikarúrslitaleikjunum á laugardaginn". Dagblaðið Vísir. 26 February 2001. Retrieved 1 January 2019. (in Icelandic)
3. "Gamla ljósmyndin: Formaðurinn". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 20 May 2023. Retrieved 20 May 2023.
4. "Bikarmeistarar Hauka ekki með lið í 1. deild". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 1 September 1992. p. B1. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
5. "KR tapaði ekki leik". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 7 April 1999. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
6. Stefán Stefánsson (3 April 2001). "Órofin sigurganga KR-stúlkna". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 January 2019.
7. "Fjórfalt". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 2 April 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
8. "Guðbjörg hætt með KR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 7 September 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
9. "Guðbjörg með Haukum". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 3 October 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
10. "Leikur: Laugdælir - Haukar". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Federation. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
11. "Keflavík með góða stöðu". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 12 November 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
12. "Guðbjörg aftur til liðs við KR". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 14 November 2001. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
13. "1. deild kvenna 2002". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Federation. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
14. "1. deild kvenna - KR". kki.is (in Icelandic). Icelandic Basketball Federation. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
15. "1. deild kvenna". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 12 March 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
16. "Aldrei lent í öðru eins". Dagblaðið Vísir (in Icelandic). 15 April 2002. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
17. Stefán Stefánsson (16 April 2002). "KR-stúlkur bættu við bikarasafnið". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 January 2019.
18. "Hanna til liðs við KR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 7 August 2002. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
19. Óskar Ó. Jónsson (1 October 2004). "200 leikja kvenna-klúbburinn". kki.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 4 January 2019.
20. "KKÍ | A landslið". kki.is. Retrieved 2017-12-14.
21. Eiríkur Stefán Ásgeirsson (27 August 2008). "Signý jafnar fyrirliðametið". Vísir.is. Retrieved 14 December 2017.
22. Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (29 March 2023). "Guðbjörg tekur við sem formaður KKÍ eftir að Hannes sagði af sér". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 29 March 2023.
23. Runólfur Trausti Þórhallsson (30 March 2023). "Ef við ætlum að bæta við og verða betri þá verðum við að fá fleiri að borðinu". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 30 March 2023.