Richard is currently researching mental health issues in athletes as a PhD candidate at Liverpool John Moores University. Richard´s research is currently focusing on symptoms of depression and anxiety in athletes. He is specifically interested in how athletes differ in their responses to distress and how these differences relate to mental health issues over time. With his research Richard hopes to increase the awareness of the potential risk factors related to mental health issues in athletes and how we can better prevent and tackle these issues within the context of sports.

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Richard was born in Sweden, grew up in Finland and is half Icelandic – hence he can be seen as a hybrid Northman. His sporting background is in ice hockey, in which he competed in Finland until the age of 21. After his athletic career, he moved to Sweden to pursue a degree in coaching and sport management at Linnaeus university. It was also in Sweden where Richard began his ice hockey coaching career. After coaching youth and junior level ice hockey in Sweden he ventured to Iceland, where he has coached several club teams as well as the men´s and women´s national teams. While continuing to be involved in the ice hockey scene in Iceland, Richard made a decision to pursue an career as a Psychologist and an academic. In 2017 he was granted a full PhD scholarship at Liverpool John Moores University – and subsequently moved with his wife Rósa and their twins, Emilía and Húgó to Liverpool to pursue his research interests.