Kári Marísson
# Kári Marísson

Kári Marísson (born 20 November 1951) is an Icelandic former multi-sport athlete and basketball coach. He played and coached basketball for several decades and was the oldest player to have played in the Icelandic top-tier Úrvalsdeild karla, at the age of 49 years, until the record was broken by Baldur Þorleifsson in 2015.

## Early life

Kári grew up in Árbær in Reykjavík where he competed in pole vault and football.

## Basketball

### Playing career

Kári played his first game in with KFR in 1967. In 1975, he left the club, which by that time was named Valur, and signed with Njarðvík. He left Njarðvík at the conclusion of the 1977–78 season and later joined Tindastóll.

### National team career

From 1972 to 1976, Kári played 34 games for the Icelandic national basketball team.

### Coaching career

Kári was a player-coach with Tindastóll for several seasons until 1988 when the team was promoted to the Úrvalsdeild. After spending the 1988–89 season as just a player, he returned to the player-coach role in July 1989. He was fired from his coaching position in October 1989 after a bad start for the team and subsequently stopped playing. He later coached Tindastóll women's team and later the men's team from 2004 to 2005. In October 2015, he temporary took over the team after the firing of Pieti Poikola and until the hiring of José María Costa Gómez.

## Football

Kári played 9 games for Íþróttabandalag Akraness in 1973, including 3 in the top-tier league. He appeared in 4 matches in the Icelandic Cup, scoring 2 goals.

## Personal life

Kári was married to Katrín Axelsdóttir from 1976 until her death in 1994. He is the father of basketball players Axel Kárason, Arnar Snær Kárason and María Káradóttir and stepfather of former Icelandic Women's Basketball Player of the Year and national team member Kristín Björk Jónsdóttir.

