Sport in Iceland

Popular sports include football, handball, athletics, basketball, chess, golf, volleyball, tennis, skiing, snowboarding, ice hockey, swimming, rock climbing, mountain climbing, horseback riding (specially on Icelandic horses), archery, strongman, powerlifting and crossfit.

In some of those sports, namely football, handball, basketball and strongman, Iceland is extremely successful, considering its population.

[5] Hreinn Halldórsson was the 1977 European Indoor champion in the shot put (Iceland's sole winner at that competition).

[6] The annual Reykjavík Marathon is held in mid-August with around 10,000 people taking part in the various races on offer.

[10] Iceland is a regular participant at the Games of the Small States of Europe and it topped the table at the 1997 edition for which it was the host nation.

Iceland has the second most World's Strongest Man championships of any country with nine: Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnús Ver Magnússon with four victories each and most recently by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, who is also widely regarded as the strongest man to have ever lived.

Other notable athletes include Hjalti Árnason, Andrés Guðmundsson, Torfi Ólafsson, Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson, Stefán Sölvi Pétursson, Ari Gunnarsson, Páll Logason and Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð.

Rifle shooting became very popular in the 19th century and was heavily encouraged by politicians and others pushing for Icelandic independence.

Most famous athlete is the two times female champion of the crossfit games 2011 and 2012 in Carson City, Anníe Mist Þórisdóttir.

Archery as a sport started in disabled clubs in Iceland 1974 [21] and has grown particularly since 2013, buoyed by the opening of a new facility in Kópavogur that year.