Sport in Denmark

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Members of sport clubs in Denmark by sport (as of 2013)^{[n 1][1]}

Sport	Members	Growth[n 2]
Football	329,955	−3%
Fishing	220,000	+9%
Aquatics	170,639	+9%
Gymnastics	166,711	+10%
Golf	155,746	−1%
Handball	109,706	−2%
Badminton	89,753	−3%
Equestrian	69,946	−1%
Tennis	59,389	−3%
Shooting	54,517	+4%
Sailing	52,226	−5%

Sport in Denmark is diverse. The national sport is running, but club sport is

The national stadium for football is the Parken Stadium.

Football

Denmark national football team reached #3 ranking in the

The top-league in Danish football is called The Danish Superliga. The reigning champions (2022/2023 season) are F.C. Copenhagen. Famous former Superliga players include Per Nielsen, Jimmy Nielsen, Michael Hansen, Mogens Krogh, Daniel Agger and Jesper Grønkjær.

The second level league is the Danish 1st Division followed by Danish 2nd Division and Danish 3rd Division. Al clubs in the first four leagues are allowed to use professional players. The leagues below can only use amateur players without contract.

The top women's league is the

The premier cup competition is the Danish Cup. AGF are 9 time champions. Copenhagen are also the last winners of the Danish Supercup, back in 2004, of which Brøndby IF are the most successful club. Brøndby are the only winners of the twice-held Danish League Cup.

The

Denmark has a long history with handball, with the sport originating in Denmark. Handball is one of the most popular pastimes in Denmark, only exceeded by football. There are over 146,000 licensed handball players in Denmark. Both the male and female national teams have reached high international rankings.

Motorcycle speedway

Denmark have marked their status as one of the leading motorcycle speedway countries. Denmark has won the Speedway World Cup four times in 2006, 2008, 2012 and 2014 and came second in 2007 missing only two points to Poland.

Danish

in 1984. 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.

Ice hockey

This section appears to contradict itself on the number of Danish players in the NHL. Please see the talk page for more information. (March 2019)

There are seven Danish ice hockey players currently in the

The Denmark men's national ice hockey team have been in the best division since 2003. The Danish national hockey team scored two historic, unexpected upsets in Tampere, Finland, defeating the United States 5-2 on April 26, 2003 and tied Canada 2-2 six days later on May 2, 2003. At the 2010 World Championship Denmark finished eighth place, which is their best placing to date. The Denmark men's national ice hockey team and the Denmark women's national ice hockey team are both currently^[when?] number 10 on the IIHF World Ranking. In 2018 Denmark was the host of the 2018 IIHF World Championships, Herning and Copenhagen were the host cities.

Badminton

Denmark is Europe's strongest badminton country. Danish players have won 11 gold medals at the World Championships since 1977, 63 gold medals at the European Badminton Championships since 1968, and 19 titles at the Europe Cup since 1978. The Denmark national badminton team has won the 2016 Thomas Cup, and has been runner-up eight times in the Thomas Cup, three times in the Uber Cup, and two times in the Sudirman Cup. At the

In men's badminton,

In women's badminton, Kirsten Thorndahl and Tonny Ahm claimed singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles titles at the All England. Lene Køppen and Camilla Martin have won singles titles at the World Championships and All-England. Other notable women's players include Ulla Strand (All-England doubles titles), Rikke Olsen (six World Championship medals), Helene Kirkegaard (two medals at the World Championships), Tine Baun (All-England singles titles), Kamilla Rytter Juhl (World mixed doubles title), and Christinna Pedersen (two Olympic and five World Championship medals).

The premier international badminton tournament in Denmark is the Denmark Open, which is part of the BWF World Tour. Meanwhile, the Danish National Badminton Championships is the most prestigious tournament for Danish players, and the Danish Badminton League is the main tournament for Danish clubs.

Cycling

Historically, Denmark's most successful name in cycling has been

In recent years, Denmark has made a mark as a strong

In the past years, the Danish cycling has suffered from doping cases. Bjarne Riis, Bo Hamburger, Rolf Sørensen, 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 hosted the UCI world championships on the road. Denmark hosted the Grand Depart in the 2022 edition of the Tour de France.

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 professional tour golf,

Denmark's national team had a few strong showings at senior and youth level. The Bakken Bears currently hold the attendance record for a single basketball game in Denmark.

Boxing

Denmark has many great boxers, including former

The Danish flag football team, is one of the best Flag football teams in the world, having won a record 6 consecutive EFAF European Flag Football Championship and 2 bronze medals. They also won 4 silver medals at the IFAF Flag Football World Championship and 2 bronze medals. The women's team also had success, as they won the european championship in 2017 hosted in Denmark.

Mixed martial arts

Denmark has various Mixed Martial Arts fighters with the most prominent being Martin Kampmann. Kampmann fought for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) as a 170-pound welterweight and was considered one of the best fighters in the division. Other Danish fighters that have competed in the UFC include Anna Elmose, Nicolas Dalby, Joachim Christensen, Christian Colombo, and Mads Burnell.

Motor sports

In Denmark, there is also a small but successful group of people doing motorsport. The driver with the most

The main permanent racetracks are Ring Djursland, Jyllands-Ringen and Padborg Park. The Danish Touringcar Championship was held from 1999 to 2010, and the Danish Thundersport Championship has been held since 2012. In addition, the Copenhagen Historic Grand Prix has been held since 2001.

Physical education and gymnastics

Franz Nachtegall was influential in the introduction of physical education and gymnastics into schools of Denmark.^[8][9]

Racketlon

Denmark has the highest ranked racketlon player and two more within top seven (July 2015).^[10]

Rugby league football

The Danish Rugby Union dates back to 1950, and joined the IRB in 1988.^[11] There are about 3,000 registered players.

Tennis

Caroline Wozniacki is commonly referred to as the best Danish female tennis player in history. She is a former World No. 1 on the WTA Tour. As of 1 March 2017, she held this position for 71 weeks. She was the first Scandinavian woman to hold the top ranking position and 20th overall. She has won The Australian Open 2018 and 27 WTA singles titles incl 2017 WTA Finals (and made 52 finals) as of March 2018, and is currently ranked number 2 in the WTA rankings.

References