Background
Vilhjálmur grew up in the East-Icelandic fishing village of Reyðarfjörður and is the son of Einar Stefánsson and Sigríður Vilhjálmsdóttir.
painter teacher athletics competitor
Vilhjálmur grew up in the East-Icelandic fishing village of Reyðarfjörður and is the son of Einar Stefánsson and Sigríður Vilhjálmsdóttir.
Dartmouth College.
In 1956 Vilhjálmur set a new Olympic Record by jumping 16.26 m in the triple jump, only to be surpassed by Brazil"s Adhemar da Silva in the same competition. In 1958 he took bronze in the triple jump at the European Athletics Championships in Stockholm, Sweden, with 16.00 m. His personal best was 16.70 m set in 1960 in Laugardalsvöllur, Iceland.
Vilhjálmur has also been headmaster of three schools: Héraðsskólinn in Laugarvatn, Reykholtsskóli in Reykholt, and Menntaskólinn in Egilsstaðir, where he later worked as a part-time mathematics teacher.
He is also a painter, specializing in landscape painting, and his work has been on display in several art galleries in Iceland. He attended Dartmouth College.