After 25 years as a successful throwing coach, Vésteinn Hafsteinsson retires. The 62-year-old Icelander, who has been the coach behind recent years of Swedish success in the discus and shot put rings, is leaving Sweden and moving home.
“It’s time to put an end to this part of my working life and prioritize myself and my family. I have new fun challenges ahead,” says Hafsteinsson in a press release from the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC).
20 championship medals
His meritorious adepts are numerous. Daniel Ståhl and the Estonian Gerd Kanter have both won Olympic and World Cup gold in the discus under Hafsteinsson’s leadership. According to Hafsteinsson himself, the highlight was when Ståhl took gold and Simon Pettersson silver at the Olympics in Tokyo two years ago.
Fanny Roos, another coached by Hafsteinsson, made history when she became the first woman to win a medal in the shot put at the indoor European Championships in Torun, Poland, in 2021. And Danish shot putter Joachim B Olsen won Olympic silver in 2004.
“It has been a fantastic but tough journey. I have worked with 56 athletes from ten countries who together have won 20 championship medals during these years and I am grateful to all the partners who have made this possible,” says Vésteinn Hafsteinsson.
“Very sad”
Ståhl, Pettersson and Roos received the message last week.
“It is, of course, very sad that Vésteinn is leaving, the idea was that we would invest together towards the Olympics in Paris. But at the same time it is quite natural; he has worked with me for twelve years and now he has decided to move back home to Iceland and start fresh. When he first told me, I was almost speechless, but the more he talked about it, the clearer it felt. It’s great fun for Vésteinn,” says Ståhl in a press release from the Swedish Athletics Federation.
“Now that it has sunk in, it feels more exciting and fun. Vésteinn has made us fully trained elite soldiers. I know exactly how to throw, what I need to develop and what I need to train.”
Hafsteinsson is also leaving his job at the Swedish Olympic Committee, where he acted as a mentor to other coaches. Going forward, he will work for the Icelandic Sports and Olympic Association.