# Danish Sports Name of the Year

The Sports Name of the Year (Danish: Årets Sportsnavn) is an annual award presented to the Danish sportsperson or team judged to have delivered the best performance of the year. The award was inaugurated in 1991 and is awarded jointly by the National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark (Danmarks Idrætsforbund, DIF) and Team Danmark; prior to 2019, DIF presented the award with the newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In addition to the award the winner is granted a monetary prize, which as of 2019 stands at 75,000 Danish kroner.
The Danish women's national handball team have won the award three times, the most of any team or individual. Seven individuals (Mette Jacobsen, Eskild Ebbesen, Thomas Ebert, Tom Kristensen, Caroline Wozniacki, Lasse Norman Hansen and Viktor Axelsen) have won the award twice. The most recent winner is Jonas Vingegaard who was awarded the prize for 2022 in January 2023. He won the 2022 Tour de France.

## List of laureates
### By year

* Numbers in parentheses indicate a multiple award winner.
* The "finalists" column refers to the other nominees shortlisted for the award
| Year | Winner(s) | Sport | Finalists | Ref. |
| 1991 | Mette Jacobsen | Swimming | | |
| 1992 | Jesper Bank, Jesper Seier and Steen Secher | Sailing | Denmark national football team Arne Nielsson and Christian Frederiksen (canoeing) Vibeke Toft and Allan Tornsberg (dancing) Connie Hansen (wheelchair racing) | |
| 1993 | Denmark women's national handball team | Handball | | |
| 1994 | Denmark women's national handball team (2) | Handball | | |
| 1995 | Mette Jacobsen (2) | Swimming | | |
| 1996 | Bjarne Riis | Cycling | | |
| 1997 | Wilson Kipketer | Athletics | | |
| 1998 | Eskild Ebbesen, Thomas Ebert, Victor Feddersen and Thomas Poulsen | Rowing | | |
| 1999 | Camilla Martin | Badminton | Denmark national football team Mette Jacobsen (swimming) Wilson Kipketer (athletics) | |
| 2000 | Denmark women's national handball team (3) | Handball | | |
| 2001 | Thomas Bjørn | Golf | Denmark national football team Tom Kristensen (auto racing) | |
| 2002 | Tom Kristensen | Auto racing | Denmark men's national handball team Denmark women's national handball team Wilson Kipketer (athletics) Thor Kristensen and Thomas Ebert (rowing) | |
| 2003 | Nicki Pedersen | Speedway | | |
| 2004 | Eskild Ebbesen (2), Thomas Ebert (2), Thor Kristensen and Stephan Mølvig | Rowing | Denmark women's national handball team Tom Kristensen (auto racing) | |
| 2005 | Tom Kristensen (2) | Auto racing | Michael Maze (table tennis) Joachim Olsen (shotput) | |
| 2006 | Mikkel Kessler | Boxing | Michael Rasmussen (cycling) Kristina Stokkebroe and Peter Stokkebroe (dancing) | |
| 2007 | Mads Rasmussen, Rasmus Quist Hansen | Rowing | Denmark men's national handball team Nicki Pedersen (speedway) | |
| 2008 | Denmark men's national handball team | Handball | Denmark men's lightweight coxless four (rowing) Martin Kirketerp and Jonas Warrer (sailing) | |
| 2009 | Lotte Friis | Swimming | Michael Maze (table tennis) Caroline Wozniacki (tennis) | |
| 2010 | Caroline Wozniacki | Tennis | Matti Breschel (cycling) Lotte Friis (swimming) | |
| 2011 | Jeanette Ottesen | Swimming | Denmark men's national handball team Caroline Wozniacki (tennis) | |
| 2012 | Lasse Norman Hansen | Cycling | Denmark men's national handball team Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist Hansen (rowing) | |
| 2013 | Maja Jager | Archery | Jesper Hansen (skeet shooting) Tom Kristensen (auto racing) | |
| 2014 | Camilla Pedersen | Triathlon | Denmark men's lightweight coxless four (rowing) Rikke Møller Pedersen (swimming) | |
| 2015 | René Holten Poulsen | Canoe sprint | Maja Alm (orienteering) Jeanette Ottesen (swimming) Anne-Marie Rindom (sailing) | |
| 2016 | Pernille Blume | Swimming | Denmark men's national handball team Sara Slott Petersen (athletics) | |
| 2017 | Viktor Axelsen | Badminton | Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (sailing) Caroline Wozniacki (tennis) | |
| 2018 | Caroline Wozniacki (2) | Tennis | Pernille Harder (association football) Michael Valgren (cycling) | |
| 2019 | Mads Pedersen | Cycling | Denmark men's national handball team Anne-Marie Rindom (sailing) | |
| 2020 | Danish National Track Cycling Team Lasse Norman Hansen (2), Julius Johansen, Frederik Rodenberg and Rasmus Pedersen | Track cycling | Viktor Axelsen (badminton) Pernille Harder (association football) | |
| 2021 | Viktor Axelsen (2) | Badminton | Anne-Marie Rindom (sailing) Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Mørkøv (cycling) | |
| 2022 | Jonas Vingegaard | Cycling | Viktor Axelsen (badminton) Danish national dressage team (equestrian) | |
| 2023 | Denmark men's national handball team | Handball | Viktor Axelsen (badminton) Jonas Vingegaard (cycling) | https://www.dif.dk/aarets-sportsnavn |

### By number of wins

The table below lists the individuals and teams who have won Sports Name of the Year more than once.
| No. | Winner | Sport | Years won |
| 3 | Denmark women's national handball team | Handball | 1993, 1994, 2000 |
| 2 | Mette Jacobsen | Swimming | 1991, 1995 |
| 2 | Eskild Ebbesen | Rowing | 1998, 2004 |
| 2 | Thomas Ebert | Rowing | 1998, 2004 |
| 2 | Tom Kristensen | Auto racing | 2002, 2005 |
| 2 | Caroline Wozniacki | Tennis | 2010, 2018 |
| 2 | Lasse Norman Hansen | Cycling | 2012, 2020 |
| 2 | Viktor Axelsen | Badminton | 2017, 2021 |
| 2 | Denmark men's national handball team | Handball | 2008, 2023 |

### By sport

The table below lists the total number of Sports Name of the Year awards won by the winners' sporting profession.
| No. | Sport | Years won |
| 5 | Swimming | 1991, 1995, 2009, 2011, 2016 |
| 5 | Cycling | 1996, 2012, 2019, 2020, 2022 |
| 5 | Handball | 1993, 1994, 2000, 2008, 2023 |
| 3 | Rowing | 1998, 2004, 2007 |
| 3 | Badminton | 1999, 2017, 2021 |
| 2 | Auto racing | 2002, 2005 |
| 2 | Tennis | 2010, 2018 |
| 1 | Sailing | 1992 |
| 1 | Athletics | 1997 |
| 1 | Golf | 2001 |
| 1 | Speedway | 2003 |
| 1 | Boxing | 2006 |
| 1 | Archery | 2013 |
| 1 | Triathlon | 2014 |
| 1 | Canoe sprint | 2015 |