In this solo episode of the How to Live in Denmark podcast, host Kay Xander Mellish uses September as a lens to explore Denmark’s sports culture. He outlines how the fall season launches leagues for handball, badminton, volleyball, basketball, and hockey, emphasizing handball’s status as a Danish invention and a source of national pride. Mellish provides statistics on football participation—over 300,000 registered players, roughly one in twenty Danes—while noting the 1992 European Championship win as a cultural touchstone. The episode profiles elite Danish athletes such as badminton star Viktor Axelsen, the golfing Høegaard twins, Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, and football legend Michael Laudrup, discussing their global endorsements, tax considerations, and the tension between their success and Denmark’s egalitarian Jantelov ethos. Mellish explains how grassroots clubs serve as social hubs and talent pipelines, feeding into the government‑run Team Denmark program, which identifies and nurtures promising athletes from age 13 through elite sport tracks, offering flexible schooling, university accommodations, and corporate internships. He also highlights Denmark’s focus on water sports due to its extensive coastline. Throughout, Mellish balances enthusiasm for Denmark’s sporting achievements with a critical look at how Jantelov shapes expectations of humility and collective credit among athletes.
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Hello and welcome to the How to Live in Denmark podcast. I'm Kay Xander Mellish. I've referred to the Danish Year before on How to Live in Denmark. It's a series of events that are simply expected to happen every year in Denmark, even if they aren't formal holidays. In 2025, I'm going to try to do a podcast every month about aspects of the Danish year and how they fit into the overall context of where Denmark is coming from and where it's going. September is when fall sports season starts in Denmark. The badminton league begins. So does volleyball and basketball and hockey. Most importantly, the handball season kicks off. And while I'm not a handball fan myself, I I always know when that season is underway because my otherwise mild-mannered downstairs neighbor begins screaming at the flat screen, cheering on or scolding Denmark's handball girls or handball boys. The teams are equally popular in Denmark. Team handball was invented in Denmark, and like design, it's a national passion. Danish teams have won several world championships and many Olympic gold medals. Football, otherwise known as soccer, is popular too in Denmark, although given the international competition, it's a bit harder for little Denmark to win big championships. The Danish national team did win a European championship in 1992, something any Danish man over 40 will be happy to discuss with you in great detail. Right now, there are more than 300,000 registered football players in Denmark, if you count amateur, pro, and semi-pro teams. The population of Denmark is 6 million. That means 1 out of every 20 Danes is on a football team. Danish athletes are not especially rich, and the ones who do make big money have tapped into markets outside of Denmark. The most famous is badminton player Viktor Axelsen. Since badminton is most popular in Asia, Viktor Axelsen learned fluent Mandarin Chinese. There are a lot of endorsements in the Chinese market. The golfing Hoegaard twins, Rasmus and Nicolai, make their money on the international golf circuits, in particular the PGA. And Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard makes his money not just in France, but also via international endorsements. Many Danes do sports in their spare time. A bike ride through Copenhagen wouldn't be complete without a middle-aged Lycra-lout cyclist who thinks he's Jonas Vingegaard speeding past you in the bike lanes. Sometimes screaming, Beifra! Or, I'm coming up behind you! Besides criminals and welfare cheats, these are the least liked men in Denmark. Many Danes are involved with what's often described as hyggesports, where the win or the loss isn't as important as the beers with your buddies or pasta with your girls afterwards. These leagues cover the entire lifespan. Old boys' football clubs or old girls' rowing teams can keep you fit long past retirement age. Schools in Denmark do have physical education classes, under the old Viking word idræt, but they rarely have school sports teams. Sports are played through clubs, mostly amateur clubs, which is nice for the kids because if they don't have many friends at school, they can make different friends at their sports clubs. These clubs are part of a huge network connected to Team Denmark, which is a government project to create Denmark's future sports stars. It's always funny to me that there is so much support for elite sport development in a country that is so keen on Jantelov. Under Jantelov, the idea is that no one should think themselves better than anyone else. You see this in Danish working culture, and you also see it in the educational system. Smart kids in Denmark don't get a boost. They're expected to just attend ordinary classes and help their slower classmates. There are very few gifted and talented programs, and unlike Germany or the UK, Denmark doesn't academically track children when they're 10 or 11. Sending the smartest to more challenging academic programs. In fact, in Denmark, you can get away with messing around and doing very little in school until your second year of high school— gymnasium— around age 17 or 18, and then buckle down and end up finding yourself in med school or the international business school, 2 of the most sought-after university programs. But in sport, Denmark begins looking for talent very early. The local sports clubs work with Team Denmark to create a pipeline of talented kids. Team Denmark, which is part of the Culture Ministry, has been around for 40 years, but it constantly updates which sports it supports. Being practical Danes, they aim for sports in which little Denmark has a good chance of big success. Right now, that's badminton, handball, cycling, plus the various sports played on or in the water— sailing, kayaking, swimming, rowing. Denmark has a long tradition of sports that involve boats or water. With all its little islands and fjords, Denmark has more coastline than India. By age 13, these kids are offered places in talent centers or elite sports schools. And when they're 15 and ready for secondary school, there will be an elite sport track that gives them flexibility to train and compete. Danish universities offer flexibility for the athletes of Team Denmark when it comes to papers and exams. Some companies even offer part-time internships for Denmark's elite athletes so they can keep their civilian career on track While pursuing their sport. Of course, once they've succeeded at that sport, jentelag kicks in again. Danish athletes who win things are expected to give credit to their teammates, to their trainers, to the collective effort. To say things like, well, I was third, I got the bronze, but I could have easily been fourth. They're also expected to stay in Denmark and pay Danish taxes. Viktor Axelsen found himself rather unpopular when he moved to Dubai. His excuse was the better flight connections to badminton matches in Asia, as well as the dry weather being good for his asthma. But everyone knew the difference between a 56% income tax on top earners in Denmark and 0% in Dubai probably weighed in Viktor's decision. The ideal Danish athlete is probably Michael Laudrup, who played football at the highest levels throughout Europe in the 1990s, but was always very humble about his skills. After he retired, he came back to Denmark, where he now runs a wine business, does some Danish TV commentary, And no doubt pays substantial Danish taxes. This is sporting success in one of the most egalitarian countries in the world. And that's the How to Live in Denmark podcast for this week. You can read all of our episodes of the Danish Year series at howtoliveindenmark.com, where you can also book me, Kay Xander Mellish, for a presentation to your group or organization, Anywhere in the world. I love to travel. Make me an offer. You can also get our books at books.howtoliveindenmark.com. See you next time.
