Helgi Jóhannsson

Helgi Jóhannsson
Personal information
Born	23 June 1929; Kingdom of Iceland
Died	4 April 2003 (aged 73); Reykjavík, Iceland
Nationality	Icelandic
Career history
As player:
1951–196?	ÍR
As coach:
1952–196?	ÍR (M)
19??–19??	ÍR (W)
1961–1967	Iceland (M)
1970	Iceland (M)
1978	Iceland (M)
1992–1993	ÍR (W)
Career highlights and awards
	As coach: 8× Icelandic men's champion (1954, 1955, 1957, 1960–1964);

Helgi Jóhannsson (23 June 1929 – 4 April 2003) was an Icelandic basketball coach and player.^[1] He was one of the main pioneers of modern basketball in Iceland and was a founding member of Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur's basketball department.^[2] As a coach, Helgi won a record 8 men's national championships from 1954 to 1964.^[3]^[4] He played with ÍR in the 1964–65 FIBA European Champions Cup (now called EuroLeague),^[5] the first time an Icelandic team competed in a continental competition.^[6]^[7] He was the head coach of the Icelandic men's national basketball team on three occasions, from 1961–1967, in 1970 and in 1978.

In 1963 he was the head coach of the first Icelandic junior national basketball team when he coached the Iceland men's national under-18 basketball team during the 1964 FIBA Europe Under-18 Championship qualification.^[8]

Death

Helgi died on 4 April 2003 after battling cancer.^[9]

^ Ágúst Ásgeirsson (11 March 2007). Heil öld til heilla - Saga ÍR í 100 ár. Íþróttafélag Reykjavíkur. pp. 568–569.
^ Rafn Marteinsson (28 November 1994). "Ný gullöld í vændum". Helgarpósturinn (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ Óskar Ófeigur Jónsson (6 May 2019). "Ingi Þór bætti metið yfir lengstu sigurtíð þjálfara". Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ Sigmundur Ó. Steinarsson (10 March 2007). "Fimm prinsar á ferð á gullárum ÍR". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ "Gífurlegir yfirburðir Frakka gegn vængstýfðu liði ÍR-inga". Þjóðviljinn (in Icelandic). 20 January 1965. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ "ÍR lék sér að Collegians - 71 stig gegn 17!". Alþýðublaðið (in Icelandic). 11 December 1964. pp. 11, 13. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ "Mennirnir á bak við liðið". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 8 January 1965. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ "Takmarkið með þáttöku er að öðlast reynslu í harðri keppni". Tíminn (in Icelandic). 10 April 1963. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
^ "Helgi Jóhannsson". Morgunblaðið (in Icelandic). 10 April 2003. Retrieved 6 May 2019.