Denmark competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Danish athletes have appeared in every edition of the Summer Olympic Games, with the exception of the 1904 Summer Olympics in St. Louis. Before the start of the games, DIF sat an official medal goal of 8–10 medals for the Tokyo games.
Denmark stood with 108 athletes in 16 sports. Danish athletes won a total of 11 medals (3 gold, 4 silver and 4 bronze) at the Tokyo Olympiad. This was the most gold medals won by Denmark since the 1996 Summer Olympics, and the fifth highest amount of medals won in the Summer Olympics. Three of these 11 medals were won in cycling, two in canoeing and one each in badminton, handball, rowing, sailing, shooting and swimming.
Among the Danish medalists were Viktor Axelsen, winning gold in men's singles in badminton. He became the second Danish gold medalist in badminton, the first being Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen in 1996. Former gold medalist Pernille Blume won bronze in Women's 50 m freestyle swimming, marking her third Olympic medal in her career. Emma Jørgensen also reached three Olympic medals, having a silver medal from the 2016 Olympics and winning two bronze medals in canoeing at the 2020 Olympics. The Danish national handball team won Denmark's first silver medal in handball, having previously won four gold medals. Lasse Norman Hansen won his fourth and fifth Olympic medals, winning silver in men's team pursuit and gold in men's madison. This tied Hansen for most medals won by an individual Danish athlete, tying with Niels Larsen, Eskild Ebbesen and Lars Jørgen Madsen.
The Danish NOC represented not only Denmark, but also the constituent countries of Greenland and the Faroe Islands, neither of which have their own NOC. With the men's handball team winning a silver medal, Faroese handball player Jóhan Hansen became the first Faroese athlete to win a medal.
Medalists
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Medal Name Sport Event Date Anne-Marie Rindom Sailing Women's Laser Radial Viktor Axelsen Badminton Men's singles Lasse Norman Hansen Michael Mørkøv Cycling Men's madison Jesper Hansen Shooting Men's skeet Lasse Norman Hansen Niklas LarsenFrederik RodenbergRasmus Pedersen Cycling Men's team pursuit Amalie Dideriksen Julie Leth Cycling Women's madison Handball Men's tournament Joachim SuttonFrederik Vystavel Rowing Men's coxless pair Pernille Blume Swimming Women's 50 m freestyle Emma Jørgensen Canoeing Women's K-1 200 metres Emma Jørgensen Canoeing Women's K-1 500 metres
| width="22%" align="left" valign="top" | Medals by sportSport TotalBadminton1001Canoeing0022Cycling1203Handball0101Rowing0011Sailing1001Shooting0101Swimming0011Total34411
Competitors The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games: SportMenWomenTotalArchery 0 1 1Athletics 9 8 17Badminton 5 4 9Canoeing 0 4 4Cycling 11 7 18Equestrian 2 3 5Golf 2 2 4Handball 14 0 14Judo 0 1 1Rowing 3 6 9Sailing 3 5 8Shooting 2 2 4Skateboarding 1 0 1Swimming 3 8 11Table tennis 1 0 1Wrestling 1 0 1 Total 57 51 108
Archery
One Danish archer qualified for the women's individual recurve by securing one of three remaining spots available in the secondary tournament at the 2019 World Archery Championships in 's-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands. On 8 October 2019, London 2012 Olympian and 2013 world champion Maja Jager became the first Danish athlete to be officially selected to the roster for Tokyo 2020.
Jager was seeded 25th after the initial ranking round, which left her to compete against Indonesian Diananda Choirunisa in the first tournament round. Jager won this round 6–2. In the second round against Ksenia Perova, Jager and Perova started out by winning a set each and had a set draw. Perova won the fourth and fifth sets, eliminating Jager from the tournament.
AthleteEventRanking roundRound of 64Round of 32Round of 16QuarterfinalsSemifinalsFinal / ScoreSeedOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankMaja JagerWomen's individual64925W 6–2 L 3–7Did not advance
Athletics
Danish athletes further achieved the entry standards, either by qualifying time or by world ranking, in the following track and field events (up to a maximum of 3 athletes in each event):
On 27 March 2020, Rio 2016 silver medalist Sara Slott Petersen (women's 400 m hurdles) and steeplechaser Anna Emilie Møller became the first Danish track and field athletes to be named to the rescheduled Tokyo 2020 squad, with marathon runners Abdi Hakin Ulad and Thijs Nijhuis joining them nearly a month later.
Both the men's and women's relay teams broke the Danish national records, despite neither qualifying for the final. Silver medalist from 2016 Sara Slott Petersen competed in women's 400 m hurdles, qualifying to the semifinal after finishing 3rd in her initial heat. In the semi final, rain caused the field to get slippery and Slott crashed. As a result she didn't qualify to the final. Ole Hesselbjerg and Anna Emilie Møller competed in the 3000 metres steeplechase, men's and women's respectively. Neither qualified from their initial heats, Hesselbjerg finishing 8th and Møller finishing 9th. Møller's time of 9:31.99 was her season's best. Kojo Musah ran in the men's 100 m, as the first Danish athlete since 1928. He had reached the qualifying standard and was able to skip the preliminary rounds, moving straight to the round one heats. In his heat he finished in fifth place and didn't qualify for the semifinal. Two Danish athletes competed in the men's marathon: Thijs Nijhuis and Abdi Hakin Ulad. Both completed the marathon. Nijhuis finished in 70th place with a time of 2:26:59, and Ulad finished in 23rd place with a time of 2:15:50. For both men, this was their season's best.
Track & road events Men AthleteEventHeatQuarterfinalSemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankResultRankKojo Musah100 mcolspan=2 10.205Did not advanceOle Hesselbjerg3000 m steeplechase8:24.088colspan=4 Did not advanceSimon HansenTazana Kamanga-DyrbakKojo MusahFrederik Schou-Nielsen4 × 100 m relay38.167 colspan=4 Did not advanceThijs NijhuisMarathoncolspan=6 rowspan=2 2:26:5970Abdi Hakin Ulad2:15:5023
Women AthleteEventHeat SemifinalFinalResultRankResultRankResultRankSara Slott Petersen400 m hurdles55.523 QDid not advanceAnna Emilie Møller 3000 m steeplechase9:31.99 SB9 colspan=2 Did not advanceEmma Beiter BommeAstrid Glenner-FrandsenIda KarstoftMathilde Kramer4 × 100 m relay43.51 7colspan=2 Did not advance
Badminton
Denmark entered nine badminton players (five men and nine women) for the following events based on the BWF Race to Tokyo Rankings; two entries in the men's singles, one in the women's singles, and a pair each in the men's, women's, and mixed doubles.
In the mixed doubles event Denmark stood with one team consisting of Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje. In the initial group stage they lost two matches and won. Their one win was not enough to qualify to the quarter finals. Two other teams represented Denmark, one in men's doubles and one in women's doubles. The women's team consisted of Maiken Fruergaard and Sara Thygesen. They lost two matches in the group stage, but won against the fourth-seeded Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan. Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen made up the team for the men's doubles. In the group stage they won two matches and lost one, which allowed them to qualify to the quarterfinals. Here they faced Chinese Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen. The Danish double won one set, as did the Chinese. In the final set the two Danes lost in a close 19–21 finish.
Three Danish badminton players took part in the singles events. Mia Blichfeldt competed in the women's singles, winning both matches in the group stage and qualifying to the elimination stage. In the elimination stage she faced off against Indian P. V. Sindhu, who she had previously competed against on five different occasions, four of which she had lost. She also lost this match against her, losing both sets. Two Danish athletes competed in the men's singles: Anders Antonsen and Viktor Axelsen. Antonsen won both matches in the group stage, qualifying him for the elimination stage where he faced off against British Toby Penty. Antonsen won both sets and the match, moving him on to the quarterfinals. Here he was to compete against Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. Antonsen and Ginting each won a set, and in the final set Ginting defeated Antonsen 21–18. Viktor Axelsen also won both matches in the group stage, and defeated Taiwanese Wang Tzu-wei in the elimination stage. In the quarterfinal he defeated Chinese Shi Yuqi and in the semifinal he beat Guatemalan Kevin Cordón. This left him in a final against Chinese Chen Long. He won both sets in the final, winning him a gold medal. This was the first Danish gold medal in badminton since the 1996 Summer Olympics, where Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen won. Axelsen went through the Tokyo Olympics without losing a single set.
Men AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankAnders AntonsenSinglesW (21–13, 21–13)W (21–16, 21–15)1 QW (21–10, 21–15)L (18–21, 21–15, 18–21)Did not advanceViktor AxelsenW (21–12, 21–11)W (21–9, 21–13)1 QW (21–16, 21–14)W (21–13, 21–13)W (21–18, 21–11)W (21–15, 21–12)Kim AstrupAnders Skaarup RasmussenDoublesW (21–13, 21–18)W (21–7, 21–10)L (14–21, 12–21)2 QL (21–12, 14–21, 19–21)Did not advance
Women AthleteEventGroup StageEliminationQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankMia BlichfeldtSinglesW (21–7, 21–14)W (21–10, 21–3)1 QL (15–21, 13–21)Did not advanceMaiken FruergaardSara ThygesenDoublesL (13–21, 15–21)W (15–21, 21–19, 22–20)L (19–21, 21–13, 12–21)4Did not advance
Mixed AthleteEventGroup StageQuarterfinalSemifinalFinal / OppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankOppositionScoreOppositionScoreOppositionScoreRankMathias ChristiansenAlexandra BøjeDoublesL (22–20, 11–21, 15–21)L (22–24, 19–21)W (21–6, 21–14)3Did not advance
Canoeing
Sprint Danish canoeists qualified three boats in each of the following distances for the Games through the 2019 ICF Canoe Sprint World Championships in Szeged, Hungary. The women's kayaking squad, led by Rio 2016 silver medalist Emma Åstrand Jørgensen, was named to the Danish roster on 28 May 2021.
Sara Milthers and Emma Åstrand Jørgensen both competed in the women's K-1 200 m. Milthers finished 6th in the initial heat, meaning she had to compete in the quarterfinals. Here she finished fifth, which wasn't enough to qualify to the semifinals. Jørgensen meanwhile finished 1st in her initial heat, qualifying her straight to the semifinals. Here she finished 2nd, which allowed her to compete in the medal-giving final, where she finished 3rd and won bronze. Jørgensen also won bronze in women's K-1 500 m. She finished 2nd in the initial heat and 2nd again in the semifinals, then third in the final. She became the only Danish athlete to win more than one medal in the Tokyo Olympics. Julie Frølund Funch and Bolette Nyvang Iversen competed in the women's K-2 500 m. They finished fifth in the initial heat, which wasn't enough to qualify to the semifinals. They instead had to try and qualify from the quarterfinals, though finished fifth again and didn't manage to qualify to the semifinals. All four canoers competed together in the women's K-4 500 m. They came in fifth place in their initial heat, meaning they had to take part in the quarterfinals. Here they finished 6th, qualifying them for the semifinals. In the semifinal they came in fourth place, allowing them to take part in the medal-giving final race. In the final they finished last, in 8th place.