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.[1] In addition to the award the winner is granted a monetary prize, which as of 2019 stands at 75,000 Danish kroner.[1]

Sports Name of the Year (Årets Sportsnavn)
Country	Denmark
Presented by	National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark Team Danmark (2019–) Jyllands-Posten (1991–2018)
First awarded	1991
Most awards	Denmark women's national handball team (3)

The Danish women's national handball team have won the award three times, the most of any team or individual. Five individuals (Mette Jacobsen, Eskild Ebbesen, Thomas Ebert, Tom Kristensen and Caroline Wozniacki) have won the award twice. The most recent winners are the Danish National Track Cycling Team Lasse Norman Hansen, Julius Johansen, Frederik Rodenberg and Rasmus Pedersen, who were awarded the prize for 2020 in January 2021.[2] They won the 2020 UCI Track Cycling World Championships – Men's team pursuit, setting a new world record in each of their three races.

List of laureates

By year

• Numbers in parenthesis indicate a multiple award winner.
• The "finalists" column refers to the other nominees shortlisted for the award

Olympic rower Eskild Ebbesen won in 1998 and 2004

Racing driver Tom Kristensen won in 2002 and 2005

Tennis player Caroline Wozniacki won in 2010 and 2018

Cyclist Lasse Norman Hansen won in 2012 and 2020

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)	[3]
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)	[4]
2000	Denmark women's national handball team (3)	Handball		[5]
2001	Thomas Bjørn	Golf	Denmark national football team Tom Kristensen (auto racing)	[6]
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)	[7]
2003	Nicki Pedersen	Speedway		[8]
2004	Eskild Ebbesen (2), Thomas Ebert (2), Thor Kristensen and Stephan Mølvig	Rowing	Denmark women's national handball team Tom Kristensen (auto racing)	[9]
2005	Tom Kristensen (2)	Auto racing	Michael Maze (table tennis) Joachim Olsen (shotput)	[10]
2006	Mikkel Kessler	Boxing	Michael Rasmussen (cycling) Kristina Stokkebroe and Peter Stokkebroe (dancing)	[11]
2007	Mads Rasmussen, Rasmus Quist Hansen	Rowing	Denmark men's national handball team Nicki Pedersen (speedway)	[12]
2008	Denmark men's national handball team	Handball	Denmark men's lightweight coxless four (rowing) Martin Kirketerp and Jonas Warrer (sailing)	[13]
2009	Lotte Friis	Swimming	Michael Maze (table tennis) Caroline Wozniacki (tennis)	[14]
2010	Caroline Wozniacki	Tennis	Matti Breschel (cycling) Lotte Friis (swimming)	[15]
2011	Jeanette Ottesen	Swimming	Denmark men's national handball team Caroline Wozniacki (tennis)	[16]
2012	Lasse Norman Hansen	Cycling	Denmark men's national handball team Mads Rasmussen and Rasmus Quist Hansen (rowing)	[17]
2013	Maja Jager	Archery	Jesper Hansen (skeet shooting) Tom Kristensen (auto racing)	[18]
2014	Camilla Pedersen	Triathlon	Denmark men's lightweight coxless four (rowing) Rikke Møller Pedersen (swimming)	[19]
2015	René Holten Poulsen	Canoe sprint	Maja Alm (orienteering) Jeanette Ottesen (swimming) Anne-Marie Rindom (sailing)	[20]
2016	Pernille Blume	Swimming	Denmark men's national handball team Sara Slott Petersen (athletics)	[21]
2017	Viktor Axelsen	Badminton	Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (sailing) Caroline Wozniacki (tennis)	[22]
2018	Caroline Wozniacki (2)	Tennis	Pernille Harder (association football) Michael Valgren (cycling)	[23]
2019	Mads Pedersen	Cycling	Denmark men's national handball team Anne-Marie Rindom (sailing)	[24]
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)	[2]

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
	Eskild Ebbesen	Rowing	1998, 2004
	Thomas Ebert
	Tom Kristensen	Auto racing	2002, 2005
	Caroline Wozniacki	Tennis	2010, 2018
	Lasse Norman Hansen	Cycling	2012, 2020

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
4	Handball	1993, 1994, 2000, 2008
	Cycling	1996, 2012, 2019, 2020
3	Rowing	1998, 2004, 2007
2	Auto racing	2002, 2005
	Badminton	1999, 2017
	Tennis	2010, 2018
1	Sailing	1992
	Athletics	1997
	Golf	2001
	Speedway	2003
	Boxing	2006
	Archery	2013
	Triathlon	2014
	Canoe sprint	2015

References

1. Roth, Christopher (28 November 2019). "Her er de nominerede til 'Årets Sportsnavn 2019'". TV2 (in Danish). Retrieved 1 November 2020.
2. "Guldkvartet er Årets Sportsnavn 2020" (in Danish). Ritzau. 2 January 2021. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
3. Henriksen, Troels (27 December 2016). "1992 – Da ministeren »gemte« sine stemmer og snørede en komité". Jyllands Posten. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
4. Thomsen, Sten Rudi; Svarrer, Ole Wejse (18 December 1999). "Årets sportnavn: Camilla Martin". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 5 November 2020.
5. Bruhn, Morten (28 December 2016). "13 gyldne minutter, og så er et landshold årets sportsnavn – igen, igen". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 11 November 2020.
6. "Thomas Bjørn kåret som Årets Sportsnavn". Berlingske (in Danish). Ritzau. 18 December 2001. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
7. Brandt, Henrik H. (18 December 2002). "Sportsnavn i sportsvogn". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 12 November 2020.
8. Christensen, Frits (29 December 2003). "Speedwaysportens genfødsel". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 7 November 2020.
9. Philipsen, Dan; Brandt, Henrik H. (28 December 2004). "Årets Sportsnavn: Guldfireren". Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 7 November 2020.
10. Gjesse Hansen, Jens (28 December 2005). "Tom Kristensen er Årets Sportsnavn" (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
11. "Kessler blev Årets Sportsnavn". Berlingske (in Danish). Ritzau. 6 January 2007. Retrieved 5 November 2020.
12. "Roere kåret som Årets Sportsnavn" (in Danish). DR. Ritzau. 5 January 2008. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
13. Trads Hansen, Troels (10 January 2009). "Wilbeks drenge blev Årets Sportsnavn" (in Danish). DR. Ritzau. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
14. "Årets Sportsnavn: Lotte Friis". TV2 (in Danish). 7 April 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
15. "Wozniacki blev "Årets Sportsnavn"" [Wozniacki became "Sports Name of the Year"]. Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). 8 January 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2012.
16. Gjesse Hansen, Jens (7 January 2012). "Jeanette Ottesen er Årets Sportsnavn" (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
17. "Lasse Norman Hansen er Årets Sportsnavn" (in Danish). DR. Ritzau. 5 January 2013. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
18. "Maja Jager er Årets Sportsnavn 2013". Sjællandske Nyheder (in Danish). Ritzau. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
19. "Triatlet er Årets Sportsnavn 2014" (in Danish). DR. Ritzau. 10 January 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2020.
20. "René Holten Poulsen er Årets Sportsnavn". Jyllands Posten (in Danish). 9 January 2016. Retrieved 31 October 2020.
21. "Pernille Blume vinder Årets Sportsnavn 2016". Berlingske (in Danish). Ritzau. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
22. "Victor Axelsen er Årets Sportsnavn 2017". Jyllands Posten (in Danish). 3 November 2012. Archived from the original on 9 August 2019.
23. "Wozniacki vinder Årets Sportsnavn 2018". TV2 (in Danish). Ritzau. 5 January 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
24. "Verdensmester Mads Pedersen er Årets Sportsnavn". Jyllands Posten (in Danish). Ritzau. 5 January 2020. Retrieved 1 November 2020.

External links

• Official website of National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark
• "Årets Sportsnavn" [Sports Name of the Year]. Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). Retrieved 3 November 2012.
• "Wozniacki blev "Årets Sportsnavn"" [Wozniacki became "Sports Name of the Year"]. Jyllands-Posten (in Danish). 8 January 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2012.