The expectations for Alfred Gislason are high. The national coach is supposed to coach the national handball team to a medal at the European Championships in Germany. The 64-year-old knows how to deal with pressure – a personal stroke of fate made him look at life differently.
Looking back, it was a pretty good idea that Adelheidur Alfredsdottir and Gisli Hjartarson had back then around September 7, 1959. They called their second-born son Alfred – the name is a combination of the terms “nature spirit” and “advice”. As the decades went on, it would become clear that Alfred Gislason from Akureyri in the north of Iceland, who strived for success early on, literally filled this name with life.
Mother encourages early independent Act
When he was a child, five siblings sat next to him at the table, including four brothers. The will to assert itself was required from the start. “They were always hungry, our children. If you came late to eat, there was nothing left,” says Alfredsdottir. The former bank employee wanted her children to think for themselves early on. “I never said, be quiet and do it the way I want. It was important to me that they do their best and act independently. And that from the start.”
Alfred Gislason (r.) with his parents in Akureyri on Iceland.
Her sons all made it into Icelandic national teams in various sports. “I think we have the Icelandic record,” says Alfred Gislason with a smile as he visits his family in Akureyri at the end of September, now the fourth largest city in the island state with 20,000 inhabitants.
After his wife’s death from cancer – Gislason finds his second great love
Gislason was accompanied on the trip to his homeland by the Sportschau, the documentary produced by reporter Hendrik Deichmann “Alfred Gislason – Fateful days of the national coach” is in the ARD media library and can be seen on Sunday, January 7th at 4:50 p.m. on ARD.
In Iceland, Gislason accompanies his partner Hrund Gunnsteinsdottir, whom he met a year after his wife Kara died of cancer and through whom “happiness returned to his life,” as his older brother Hjörtur describes it.
“Alfred” – the advisor with the natural strength
What’s particularly impressive about Alfred is his persistence: “He’s very stubborn. When he has a goal, he absolutely wants to achieve it.” Gunnsteinsdottir speaks of her Alfred as having a “great character, he is explosive in many things”. And he has a very special gift, says the book author.
“He’s good at reading people and their characters, and he’s really interested in them. I would imagine that’s innate. It’s not something you necessarily learn. It’s a kind of instinct,” Gunnsteinsdottir said. “He cares a lot about how the players feel. He wants to be there for them to get the best out of them and that makes him a really, really good coach.”
Gislason with DHB selection still without much success
The fact that the former, powerful backcourt player from TuSEM Essen falls into the category of “very good coach” is also reflected in his CV. He is the only coach to win the Champions League with two clubs (SC Magdeburg 2002, THW Kiel 2010 and 2012). In addition, there are, among other things, seven German championships and six cup triumphs. There hasn’t been much to celebrate yet with the DHB selection. He has been national coach for almost four years, and fifth place at the 2023 World Cup is his best placement so far.
Alfred Gislason winning the Champions League with THW Kiel in 2012.
At the 2024 European Championship, where host Germany faces Switzerland (January 10th, 8:45 p.m.), North Macedonia (January 14th, 8:30 p.m.) and France (January 16th, 8:30 p.m., live on ARD and in the stream) in the preliminary round on sportschau.de), more is expected from the Icelander, who lived in Germany most of the time from 1983 onwards.
Half of my life here was not without consequences. “I’ve become quite German, that’s what my friends say. I’m unusually punctual for an Icelander,” says Gislason and laughs. “I think Icelanders are very flexible, but planning isn’t always their strong point. They’re still hunter-gatherers in a way.”
I’m unusually punctual for an Icelander.
National players who trained under Gislason at the club many years ago see further changes in him. Like Rune Dahmke from THW Kiel. “I think he has become much, much more relaxed in the last few years,” said the left winger. “And I think that as national coach he puts a different focus on ensuring a good atmosphere. It’s always just a short period. It’s extremely important that the team structure fits.”
Gislason openly admits that he made mistakes as a club coach. “I was quite a dictator. I went too far with my criticism or how I treated people,” says the 64-year-old, but it is also important to him: “But I always said to myself: I will never do it that way like a few coaches of mine who answered a question from me: ‘Shut up and do what I say.'” He picked up this principle from his mother.
I was quite a dictator.
Gislason apparently came to the realization that he had often been too harsh in his dealings with his players five or six years ago. Dahmke attests to his “much more relaxed nature during his last time as a club coach”. Collecting titles and achieving goals may also have led to a more relaxed attitude as people got older.
Kara’s death makes Gislason look at life differently
On May 31, 2021, all relationships to what is important in life shifted in a brutal way. His wife Kara succumbed to cancer. From then on, Gislason was alone on the restored farm in the 50-person community of Wendgräben near Magdeburg. “We wanted to travel, do a lot here and enjoy life. We were hopeful that we could delay it, even though we knew it couldn’t be cured,” he says.
Gislason found it extremely difficult, but he continued his mission as national coach. And now in January it should lead to success. A medal would be one of those, winning the title would of course be a dream come true. “Especially a tournament like this at home in Germany – there’s a tension building up. But it’s more of a positive tension, an anticipation of what’s to come. And when it goes well, the whole of Germany is in handball fever,” he said National coach.
Gislason wants to reach the semi-finals with the DHB team at the home European Championships in 2024.
And after the spectacle? At some point she goes back to Iceland with her partner Hrund, to her own parents, of course to Kara’s grave. To the north of the volcanic island with its sometimes somewhat stubborn people, to Akureyri, which is surrounded by a rough shell, a rugged landscape, but which radiates a lot of warmth at its core – the red signal on the traffic lights lights up in the shape of a heart.