Sport in Denmark
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| Sport | Members (% of pop) |
|---|---|
| Football | 313,674 (5.7%) |
| Golf | 149,509 (2.7%) |
| Aquatics (swimming etc.) | 124,366 (2.3%) |
| Handball | 121,953 (2.2%) |
| Gymnastics | 112,251 (2.0%) |
| Badminton | 100,508 (1.8%) |
| Equestrian | 78,508 (1.4%) |
| Tennis | 59,880 (1.1%) |
| Sailing | 59,348 (1.1%) |
| Shooting | 52,540 (1.0%) |
Sport in Denmark is diverse. The national sport is Football (soccer)[2] with the most notable results being qualifying for the European Championships six times in a row (1984–2004) and winning the Championship in 1992. Other significant achievements include winning the Confederations Cup in 1995 and reaching the quarter final of the 1998 World Cup.Other popular sports include handball, cycling, sailing sports, badminton, ice hockey, swimming and recently also golf. A few youths also play basketball.
Sport is encouraged in school, and there are local sports clubs in all cities and most towns.
The national stadium is the Parken Stadium.
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[edit] Football
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Denmark, with over 313,000 players in more than 1600 clubs.[1] The national football team in Denmark have reached high and notable results, like qualifying for the European Championships six times in a row (1984–2004) and winning the UEFA Championship in 1992. Other significant achievements include winning the Confederations Cup in 1995 and reaching the quarter final of the 1998 World Cup.
Denmark national football team reached #3 ranking in the FIFA ranking in May 1997, and #1 at the World Football Elo Ratings system in (1912–1920).
The top-league in Danish football is called The Danish Superliga.
[edit] Golf
Golf has become a highly popular sport in recent years in Denmark with more than 180 courses across the country.
Golf is mostly popular among the older demographic, with more members over the age of 24 than any other sport in Denmark.[1]
In pro golf, Thomas Bjørn has dominated the Danish scene for many years, along with Anders Hansen, Søren Hansen and Steen Tinning on the European Tour. On the Ladies European Tour, Iben Tinning is the most successful Danish player.
[edit] Handball
There are over 146.000 licensed handball players in Denmark. Both the male, and female national teams have reached high international rankings.
Denmark women's national handball team have won the Olympics gold medal 3 times, the European Women's Handball Championship 3 times, and the World Women's Handball Championship 1 time. The male national team won the European Men's Handball Championship in 2008 and 2012.
[edit] Cycling
Historically, Denmark's most successful name in cycling has been Thorvald Ellegaard won the world professional sprint title in six times, three European titles, and 24 Danish titles.
In recent years, Denmark has made a mark as a strong cycling nation, with Bjarne Riis winning Tour de France in 1996, and Michael Rasmussen reaching King of the Mountains status, in the Tour 2005 and 2006. Other well-known Danish riders are Matti Breschel, Nicki Sørensen, Bo Hamburger, Jesper Skibby and Lars Michaelsen Team Saxo Bank is the best cycling team in Denmark, led by Bjarne Riis. In 2008, Carlos Sastre, won the Tour de France while riding for Saxo Bank.
In the past years, the Danish cycling has suffered from dope-cases. Bjarne Riis, Bo Hamburger, Jesper Skibby, Michael Rasmussen all confessed doping use, or were related with doping. But despite all the bad publicity, cycling is still quite a popular sport in Denmark. In 2011, Copenhagen will host the UCI world championships on the road.
[edit] Motor Sports
In Denmark there is also a small but successful group of people doing motorsport. The driver with the most 24 Hours of Le Mans wins so far is Denmark's Tom Kristensen with 8 1st places.
[edit] Motorcycle speedway
Denmark have marked their status as one of the leading motorcycle speedway countries. Denmark won the Speedway World Cup in 2006, and came 2nd in 2007 missing only 2 points to Poland.
Danish Speedway World Championship Champions include Ole Olsen, Erik Gundersen, Hans Nielsen (nicknamed "The Professor", 4-times World Champion), and Nicki Pedersen, the 2003 2007 and 2008 World Champion.
Erik Gundersen and Hans Nielsen occupied the first two places at Gothenburg in 1984. And, in fact, there were two Danes on top of the table in each and every World final from 1984 to 1988 - a somewhat extraordinary record. Gundersen and Nielsen took three titles each as the Danes won six successive and seven out of eight titles from 1984 to 1991.
[edit] Rugby union
The Danish Rugby Union dates back to 1950, and joined the IRB in 1988.[3] There are about 3,000 registered players.
[edit] Rugby League
Rugby League in Denmark is organised by Danmark Rugby League, and the national representative team played their first international against Norway on 22 August 2009 at the DTU in northern Copenhagen. A reconstitution of Rugby League in Denmark in 2011 saw a return to international competition in which Danmark Rugby League beat Sweden in Gothenburg on 2 July 2011 by 52 points to 18 in the Rugby League Nordic Cup.
[edit] Boxing
Denmark have got many great boxers, including former Super Middleweight World Boxing Council World Champion and Super Middleweight World Boxing Association World Champion, Mikkel Kessler. Former great boxers include Johnny Bredahl a former WBO and WBA champion. Brian Nielsen who fought Mike Tyson in 2001. The active boxer Ahmed Khaddour who was in the American reality TV show The Contender also comes from Denmark.
[edit] Cricket
The Denmark national cricket team has been performing well and has reached World Cricket League's Division two which kept their hopes to qualify for the 2011 Cricket World Cup. Cricket has been played in Denmark since the mid 19th century, brought there by British. Along with the men's team Denmark national women's cricket team also has some introduction into cricket.
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Om DIF - Medlemstal (Danish), The National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark
- ^ "Danish Football - The National Sport of Denmark". denmark.dk. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark. 20 June 2011. http://www.denmark.dk/en/menu/Lifestyle/SportAndLeisure/Danish-Sport-Culture/Danish-football. Retrieved 9 July 2011.
- ^ Bath, Richard (ed.) The Complete Book of Rugby (Seven Oaks Ltd, 1997 ISBN 1 86200 013 3) p66
