# List of Danish sportspeople

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

## 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

## Boxing

* Mikkel Kessler, boxer
* Brian Nielsen, boxer

## Cricket

* 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

* 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
* 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

## 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