List of Danish sportspeople

This is a list of people from Denmark notable for their involvement in sports or athletics.

This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by editing the page to add missing items, with references to reliable sources.

Badminton

• Morten Frost, men's single, All England master 1982, 1984, 1986, and 1987
• Peter Gade, men's single, All England master 1999
• Lene Køppen, women's single, World champion 1977, All England master 1979
• Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen, men's single, 1996 Olympic gold
• Camilla Martin, women's single, World champion 1999, All England master 2002
• Svend Pri, men's single, All England master 1975
• Alfa Tofft (1911–2004), pioneering female player, founder of Aarhus Badmintonklub

Basketball

• Chanan Colman (born 1984), Danish-Israeli professional basketball player for the Copenhagen Wolfpack of the Danish Basketligaen
• Darko Jukić (born 1990), professional basketball player
• Noam Yaacov (born 2004), Israeli–Danish player in the Israeli Basketball Premier League

Bicycle racing

• Kim Andersen, road bicycle racing
• Thorvald Ellegaard, track cycling, six-fold world professional champion in sprint
• Niels Fredborg, track cycling, Olympic gold medalist 1972
• Lasse Norman Hansen, track cycling, Olympic gold medalist 2012
• Michael Rasmussen, road bicycle racing, King of the Mountains in the 2005 and 2006 Tour de France
• Bjarne Riis, road bicycle racing, Tour de France winner 1996
• Ole Ritter, road bicycle racing, two silver medals at the world championship
• Jesper Skibby, road bicycle racing
• Rolf Sørensen, road bicycle racing, Olympic silver medalist 1996
• Jakob Fuglsang
• Michael Valgren
• Jonas Vingegaard, road bicycle racing, Tour de France winner 2022 and 2023

Boxing

See also: List of Danish world boxing champions

• Mikkel Kessler, boxer
• Brian Nielsen, boxer

Cricket

See also: List of Denmark List A cricketers and List of Denmark Twenty20 International cricketers

• Christo Botma

Fencing

• Ivan Osiier, épée, foil, and sabre fencer, Olympic silver (épée), 25-time Danish champion
• Ellen Osiier (1890–1962), Olympic fencing foil champion

Football

Main article: List of Danish footballers

• Daniel Agger, defender, Brøndby IF 2004–2006, 2014–present; Liverpool F.C. 2006–2014
• Preben Arentoft, Greenock Morton, Newcastle United F.C., Blackburn Rovers F.C.
• Martin Arlofelt, defender
• Frank Arnesen
• Lars Bastrup
• Jashar Beluli
• Nicklas Bendtner, Arsenal F.C. 2006–2014; VfL Wolfsburg, 2014-present
• Kresten Bjerre
• Per Bjerregaard
• Harald Bohr (1887–1951), Olympic silver medalist and mathematician; brother of Niels Bohr
• Tonny Brogaard, goalkeeper
• Charles Buchwald, Olympic two-time silver medalist
• Henrik Bundgaard, goalkeeper
• Frederik Christensen
• Nick Christensen, forward
• Tochi Chukwuani
• Sebastian Denius
• Preben Elkjær
• Christian Eriksen
• Martin Fisch
• Dalibor Gotovac, defender
• Thomas Gravesen
• Jacob Gregersen
• Jesper Grønkjær
• Morten Hamm
• John Hansen (born 1924)
• Johnny Hansen (born 1943)
• Karl Aage Hansen
• Ronni Hansen, midfielder
• Thomas Helveg
• Casper Hyltoft
• Henning Jensen
• John Jensen
• Martin Jørgensen
• Pauli Jørgensen
• Gökcan Kaya
• Simon Kjær
• Kasper Køhlert
• Nicolaj Køhlert
• Brian Laudrup, forward, Rangers F.C. 1994–1998; Euro 92
• Finn Laudrup
• Michael Laudrup, Juventus FC 1985–1989; FC Barcelona 1989–1994
• Martin Laursen
• Søren Lerby
• Marianne Løvendorf, defender
• Knud Lundberg
• Ole Madsen
• Nils Middelboe
• Kim Milton Nielsen referee
• Klaus Moesgaard
• Jan Mølby, player and manager
• Richard Møller Nielsen
• Allan Nielsen
• Harald Nielsen
• Casper Olesen
• Jesper Olsen
• Lars Olsen
• Morten Olsen, player and coach
• Flemming Østergaard
• Gitte Pedersen
• Christian Poulsen
• Roald Poulsen
• Flemming Povlsen
• Carl Aage Præst
• Erik Rasmussen
• Thomas Rohde
• Dennis Rommedahl
• Per Røntved
• Ebbe Sand
• Kasper Schmeichel
• Peter Schmeichel, goalkeeper, Manchester United 1991–1999; Euro 92, CL98/99
• Rang Shawkat, defender
• Allan Simonsen, 1977 European Footballer of the Year
• Emilio Simonsen
• Ebbe Skovdahl, manager, most notable for popularity at Aberdeen football club
• Jørgen Leschly Sørensen
• Thomas Sørensen, goalkeeper, Stoke City
• Jon Dahl Tomasson, forward, A.C. Milan 2003–2005, VfB Stuttgart 2005–, UEFA Cup 2002
• Stig Tøfting
• Simon Trier
• Kim Vilfort
• Michael Zacho

Handball

• Lars Agersted, right winger
• Anja Andersen, handball player; 1996 Olympic gold
• Anders Christensen, right winger
• Morten Stig Christensen, handball player turned TV host
• Mikael Fruelund, right back
• Kristian Gjessing, left back
• Simon Hammer, left winger
• Michael Sahl Hansen, playmaker and line player
• Mikkel Hansen, left back
• Anne Hykkelbjerg, line player
• Claus Kjeldgaard, centre back
• Simon Krogh, playmaker
• Sascha Juul, left winger
• Pelle Larsen, line player
• Nikoline Nielsen, left back
• Stefan Nielsen, left winger
• Jesper Storm, line player

Ice hockey

• Frederik Andersen, first Danish-born goalie to play in the NHL
• Mikkel Bødker, highest drafted (8th overall) Danish-born player
• Lars Eller, ice hockey player
• Jannik Hansen, first Danish citizen to play and register a goal in an NHL playoff game
• Philip Larsen, first Danish-born defenseman to play in the NHL
• Frans Nielsen, first Danish citizen to play in the NHL
• Poul Popiel, first Danish-born to play in the NHL
• Peter Regin, ice hockey player

Motorsports

Automobile racing

• Michael Christensen, Porscheworks driver
• Casper Elgaard, 24 Hours of Le Mans driver
• Nicolas Kiesa, Formula One driver
• Tom Kristensen, only driver to win 24 Hours of Le Mans nine times (1997, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2008, 2013)
• Jan Magnussen, Formula One driver
• Kevin Magnussen, Formula One driver

Motorcycle speedway

• Hans Andersen
• Kenneth Bjerre
• Erik Gundersen, three-time Speedway World Champion (1984, 1985, 1988)
• Hans Nielsen, four-time World Champion (1986, 1987, 1989, 1995); won the inaugural Speedway Grand Prix series in 1995
• Ole Olsen, three-time World Champion (1971, 1975, 1978); first Dane to win the Speedway World Championship
• Bjarne Pedersen
• Jan O. Pedersen, 1991 Speedway World Champion
• Nicki Pedersen, two-time World Champion (2007, 2008)
• Jonas Raun

Rowing and sailing

• Jesper Bank, sailing 1992, 2000 Summer Olympics gold
• Eskild Ebbesen, gold medalist in rowing
• Paul Elvstrøm, sailing, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960 Olympic gold

Tennis

• Kenneth Carlsen, No. 43 in men's singles in 1993
• Frederik Løchte Nielsen, winner of Wimbledon 2012 Gentlemen's Doubles
• Holger Rune, No. 4 highest ranked male player
• Caroline Wozniacki, No. 1 in women's singles in 2010

Wrestling

• Leo Cortsen, Greco-Roman wrestler, appeared at the 1952 Summer Olympics
• Abraham Kurland (1912–1999), Greco-Roman wrestler, silver medalist at the 1932 Summer Olympics
• Carl Nelson, Greco-Roman wrestler, European welterweight champion ^[1]

Other

• Morten Andersen, American football, 2nd most points and field goals ever in the NFL
• Peter Eastgate, World Series of Poker main event champion
• Rune Glifberg, professional skateboarder
• Helle Gotved (1912–2006), developed a new approach to gymnastics
• Gus Hansen, high-stakes poker player
• Niels Holst-Sørensen, European champion athlete and commander-in-chief of the Royal Danish Air Force
• Martin Kampmann, mixed martial artist
• Oliver Venndt Kaszas, beach volleyball player
• Bent Larsen, 1956 International Grandmaster in chess
• Ole Laursen, kickboxer
• Gunnar Nielsen, runner; former world record holder over 1500 metres
• Nicholas Pettas, kickboxer
• Mikael Lai Rasmussen, rugby union player
• Pernille Svarre, pentathlonist
• Helle Trevino, IFBB professional bodybuilder

See also

• Lists of sportspeople

References

1. "Carl Nelson Wants Wrestling Matches". Hartford Courant . December 3, 1914. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved 2011-04-26. Carl Nelson who claims the European welterweight wrestling championship is eager to go on a match with any man in that in or around Hartford and through ...