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More resources – money and time – can always be used in high performance sport, both in clubs, federations and elitesport institutions. In this way, the sector is similar to a number of other welfare areas such as childcare, elderly care and medical treatment. And just like in these areas, a lot of resources can also be used in high performance sport with very little effect. So it is up to the management – i.e. the board, the CEO, the sports director and the head coach – to use exactly the “necessary and sufficient” resources on the individual athlete, the team, the club and the federation. It is a (very) difficult task, but crucial for achieving sporting success. It is always the management’s responsibility and duty to create the best possible framework and conditions for the athlete, the team, the club or the federation. And never forget that skilled and diligent athletes are the most important factor for good sporting results. Leadership is a dynamic and complex process, where there is no one-size-fits-all list of the right actions and solutions – not even in high performance sport. In my opinion, however, there are three issues that should have great focus and high priority for the club, the federation and the elitesport institutions’ management.

Firstly, the management must employ people with strong professional skills and good human qualities. It is also the management’s responsibility to dismiss employees based on factual arguments and in a decent and dignified manner. Professional skills in the form of formal education and practice-based experience should always be given very high importance when the club management is recruiting, for example, a new sports director or head coach or the federation is hiring national coaches or development managers. For elitesport institutions such as Team Denmark, the task is to recruit the most capable professional experts who can advise, guide and challenge sports directors, national coaches and athletes who compete at international championships.

Secondly, the club or federation management must ensure continuity to the greatest extent possible, both in relation to objectives, strategies and employees. Far too many clubs and federations have changed focus and course far too often in recent years, not least due to external pressure from members, fans and the media. Short-term employment for a few months of head coaches, national coaches, CEO’s and sports managers has unfortunately (also) become common in Danish elite sports. In my opinion, this trend is one of the biggest threats to good international results for Danish clubs and national teams. It is a fact that continuity in sports management is essential for the world’s best sports nations, such as Norway, Australia, New Zealand and the Netherlands. The same fact applies to many Danish and foreign clubs that have great success in developing talents with international potential.

Thirdly, communication – both internally and externally – is of great importance today for all clubs and federations with ambitions for sporting success. It is crucial that the club or federation has coordinated the distribution of roles and responsibilities between the political, administrative and sporting management in relation to dialogue with and contact with the media. Social media such as Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X have created completely new arenas where everyone – regardless of professional knowledge level and emotional control – can express views and attitudes that were completely unacceptable a few years ago. Unfortunately, it happens all too often that the club and association come “at the back”, especially in pressured situations, just as silence and “no comments” very often create unnecessary challenges and problems for the club or federation.

There is no linear relationship between resources and results in elite sport. More resources in the form of better finances and more time can be valuable for the club, the federation or the elitesport institution. However, this requires that the management makes well-considered and sensible investments in the short and long term. Similarly, fewer resources can also be valuable, as focus and prioritization on the “necessary and sufficient” can be easier to identify with fewer than more resources.

For information about leadership in high performance sport:

• Economics is important, but certainly not crucial to international results · MA57 Consulting
• The quality of federation leadership is the key to success or failure · MA57 Consulting

Frederiksbjerg in City of Aarhus has always had a special place in my heart. The reasons are manifold; almost seven decades ago I encountered this world in Montanagade 55, st.tv. – back then in the 1950s a poor working-class neighborhood with two-room apartments heated with kerosene and coke and with a toilet in the backyard. Six years ago I returned “home to Aarhus” after 38 years on the “away field”, where I moved into Joh. Baunes Plads 6, where five-room apartments with designer kitchens, wine racks, electric cars and summer houses are “indispensable” for me and my neighbors’ everyday lives. In addition, Frederiksbjerg also offers a food market on Ingerslev Boulevard every Wednesday and Saturday, lots of cafes and restaurants in Jaegergaardsgade and fantastic specialty shops in MP Bruuns Gade and on Skt. Pauls Kirkeplads.

Dalgas Avenue – the only football field within Ringgaden

The National Exhibition in 1909 was very decisive for the development of Aarhus. At the beginning of the last century, only 80,000 inhabitants lived in Aarhus Municipality, while today the number is more than 370,000. Historically, the population of Aarhus has grown much faster than in Denmark as a whole, which can be attributed in particular to the development of the railway and the port, as well as the city’s location with a forest and beach “right outside the door”. The first football tournament in Aarhus was held in 1902 on the exercise ground at Galgebakken, but after the National Exhibition, Aarhus City Council decided to establish football fields on a larger area at Dalgas Avenue. And relatively quickly, both Aarhus Gymnastics Club (AGF – founded in 1880 and with football from 1902) and “the Worker’s Sports Club” (AIA – founded in 1918) got their own fields and “primitive” clubhouses on Dalgas Avenue. Football in Denmark was class-based in larger cities such as Aarhus. “Workers’ clubs” were established, who were dissatisfied with the conditions in “bourgeois” clubs such as AGF, where especially chairmen and board members were recruited from the city’s largest businesses. Both AIA, Idrætsklubben Skovbakken (founded 1927), Fuglebakken (founded 1938) and Aarhus Fremad (founded 1947) were established as “workers’ clubs” with “the whites” from Fredensvang as the “hereditary enemy”. The same applied to the “Sports Club for Workers Aarhus” – colloquially ASA – which was founded on 22 April 1933.

ASA – “We embrace all members and support talents in a fun and trusting football environment”

ASA was founded in the interwar period as part of the Social Democrats’ declared goal of abolishing the bourgeoisie’s patent on sports. One of the club’s first chairmen was Orla Hyllested (1912-2000), who was also mayor of Aarhus Municipality from 1971 to 1981. For almost 100 years, ASA has been a strong cultural and social meeting place for Aarhus city centre children, young people and seniors. And in particular, many students who have moved to Aarhus from all over the country have benefited and enjoyed ASA’s social club environment. The club’s football department currently has more than 900 members, divided into 50 teams. I am particularly impressed by the number of girls and women’s players and teams in ASA – from U8 to the club’s 1st division team, which this spring has been very close to qualifying for the Gjensidige Women’s League – i.e. among Denmark’s 8 best clubs. The club’s best senior men’s team in the Danish series has also made great progress in recent seasons. On Wednesday evening, the team will meet Hørsholm-Usserød IK in the first of two matches for division team status.

Despite the sporting success of the club’s best team, ASA’s core values ​​remain a committed community with time and space for all members. These values ​​have been made visible through two special projects, among other things. In 2022, ASA chose to invite Ukrainian refugee children into the club for weekly football training. Children fleeing the horror of war were given the opportunity to experience Aarhus’ hosting in the very best way through play and ball games. The “FC Demens” project is another example of the club’s social activities. With financial support from, among others, the Health Insurance “Danmark”, Tryg-Fonden and the National Board of Health and Welfare, the club offers people affected by dementia a tailored offer of football activities. Research has documented that physical activity can mitigate and alleviate the negative effects of the development of the disease in people with dementia. And in particular, a social community can counteract loneliness and strengthen quality of life and sense of identity, which can otherwise be threatened by the disease.

Aarhus Municipality with a large financial backlog for clubs

In a few months, there will be elections for city councils and municipal boards in Denmark again. In recent years, Aarhus Municipality has been mentioned in almost all of the country’s media for a disastrous process regarding the establishment of a new, modern football stadium. A process where municipal expenses have been exceeded by astronomical figures and where political decisions have been opaque and decision-making meetings held without written minutes. I hope that in the coming years, Aarhus City Council will prioritize the renovation of existing sports facilities and the establishment of new facilities, as well as increase the financial operating subsidies for clubs such as ASA, and not use more resources on limited companies that operate professional football.

 

Traffic and noise are intense when Lars Carlsen picks us up at the Stazione di Centrale in the center of Catania, the second largest city in Sicily. Lars has just arrived by plane from Paris via Rome after three days of meetings in his new job as sports manager at the International Federation of American Football (IFAF). “Buongiorno – mio amico” is what the 60-year-old from Helsinki says, whom I first met more than 20 years ago at the Academy of Danish Sports Coaches. Lars was the national coach for American football and sports director for DAFF in the years 1995-2022, concluding with a 5-year period as the federation’s director from 2020 to 2024. Lars has always been passionate about American football and not least the sport’s development of players, coaches and referees, both in Denmark and internationally. Last fall, a unique opportunity presented itself for Lars to realize a dream job combined with a permanent residence in Italy with his wife Birgitte.

“Birgitte and I have always been very fascinated by the Italian lifestyle – la bella vitae. We have been on many holidays in Italy and through American football we have also built up a large network of Italian friends. We are very happy with the Italian values, especially the priority that food and wine should be quality, and it should preferably be consumed with good friends. It is also not the case that the choice fell on Sicily and the village of San Gregorio at the foot of Etna. One of my Italian friends convinced us with the following statement: Tuscany is the best place in the world, but Sicily is the best place in Italy”, Lars says convincingly.

Flag football – An exciting variant of American football

Flag football is an exciting variation of American football (NFL), but without hard tackles and physical contact. The players wear belts with flags and the aim of the opponent is to remove these flags to stop the game, instead of tackling the player. Flag football is a combination of physical, mental and tactical skills and a skilled flag football player must have good speed, coordination, strength, agility, and at the same time be able to think and act strategically in relation to fellow and opposing players. The rules in flag football are in many ways different from American football, including that each team consists of 5 players on the field and a total of 12 players. The number of players in American football, by comparison, is 11 players on the field and a total of 45 players. The field is also smaller (25-70 yards) and the playing time is 2 x 20 minutes. The goal of the game is to score more points than the opponents by running the ball over the opponent’s goal line. There are different types of scores in flag football. The sport is therefore very suitable for both women and men as well as children and young people.

Flag football – A new Olympic sport in LA28

The first five months of Lars’ new job have been very busy with a large number of travel days around the world. The most important reason is that flag football is among the new sports at the upcoming 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.

Lars Carlsen has the main responsibility for all sporting preparations leading up to the games in three years. “It is a unique opportunity to expand our sport to all five continents and fortunately we have great support and backing from the NFL, who greatly appreciate the fact that flag football is now an Olympic sport. There will certainly be enormous attention on flag football at the 2028 Olympics, not least because the club owners in the NFL have recently decided that active NFL players can participate in the games in Los Angeles. The NFL has set some special rules around this, but it will mean that many of the NFL’s megastars have the opportunity to participate; the Americans for the host nation USA but also NFL players from other nations can represent their country at LA28. One of my most important tasks leading up to the 2028 Olympics is to hold Continental championships and World championships, and to ensure that they are held in accordance with the current rules, which have been tightened with the status of an Olympic sport. This presents some challenges as we are also bringing many new nations into the IFAF that do not have much experience with organized sports and certainly not at the level that applies to Olympic sports. In addition, continental championships something new on several continents. Europe has held European Championships for many years, while this year we are holding the American Championships for only the second time, and the African Championships for the very first time here in June. On the one hand, we must of course be flexible in relation to new nations and new continental championships, but on the other hand, the IOC will also pay close attention to whether IFAF in all areas lives up to the Olympic Charter”, says Lars with equal parts smile and seriousness.

Denmark has good chances of qualifying for the 2028 Olympics

Lars Carlsen is of course still following the development of flag football in Denmark and not least the national team’s results. Denmark came in 4th at EURO FLAG 2023 and is currently ranked 11th in the World Ranking. “It will of course be a difficult – but not impossible – task to qualify the Danish national men’s team for the 2028 Olympics. The IOC has just announced that the Olympic tournament will consist of 6 nations for women and men respectively. The USA is a given, while 3 or 4 nations from Europe will probably qualify. The first indication of Denmark’s Olympic chances will come at EURO FLAG 2025, which will be held over 3 days in September in Paris. 24 nations for men and 19 nations for women have registered, which is a historical record. “The fact that flag football has become an Olympic sport has certainly had a very big influence on these numbers,” says Carlsen.

Friendships all over the world

Lars is a fantastic ambassador – not only for Danish and international flag football – but also for Danish sports. A pleasant evening at a fish restaurant in Catania ends with a good chat about the qualities and values ​​of Danish and international sports. “I am of course happy and proud that Birgitte and I can realize our personal dream, but I especially hope that I can help develop both players, coaches and referees within a sport that has given me friends all over the world and that I can represent Danish sports and Danish values ​​in the best way”, concludes Lars Carlsen.

Sources:

• International Federation of American Football (IFAF) – https://www.americanfootball.sport/
• National Football League (NFL) – https://www.nfl.com/international/
• LA28 Games – https://la28.org/
• Danish American Football Federation (DAFF) – https://www.daff.dk/

With more than 40,000 contracted players distributed across 900 professional clubs, football is the most dominated sport in Europe, both financially and in terms of media. It is estimated that major clubs such as Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and Manchester City have annual revenues of 5-6 billion DKK and that football today accounts for more than 80% of the total economic revenue in European sports. Football clubs with ambitions for European success are controlled by extreme capital interests, where one of the most important means is the recruitment and development of talents. The European Football Association (UEFA) rule that a number of players in a club must be homegrown, i.e. played at least three years for the club before they turn 21, means that youth players under the age of 18 have become extremely attractive. The consequence is that clubs are signing contracts with more and more youth players under the age of 18 – especially from Africa and South America – for ever larger sums of money. The explosive development of recent decades has also had a major knock-on effect on Danish football. Young talents from Danish Super League clubs are sold to foreign top clubs in huge transfers, such as 19-year-old Conrad Harder from FCN who was sold to the Portuguese major club Sporting CP for 22 million euros (165 million DKK) in the autumn of 2024. It is in the light of this development that the (impossible) choice of the greatest talents between football and education must be viewed.

Dual Career for the greatest football talents – an unrealistic vision?

In both Denmark and Europe, the focus has been on dual careers in the past 15 years, i.e. the opportunity for young sports talents to combine everyday life with both elite sports and education. Both Team Denmark, elite municipalities, youth education and higher education institutions have independently and in collaboration articulated visions, developed specific programs and coordinated efforts for the benefit of many talents in Danish elite sports, but with extremely limited effect in Danish football. This is due to several overlapping factors.

Blinding economies

Youth football talents in Denmark experience conflicting interests between education and sport, where financial incentives often push them away from education. Many boys dream of a lucrative contract and are tempted to focus solely on a football career. Here, football differs from all other sports due to extremely large economies and enormous media attention.

Studies show that youth talents perceive obligations in a youth education with greater and greater demands for homework, study trips and exams as a heavy burden that clashes with the dream of a professional football career. The studies also show that the professional clubs make greater and greater demands on the talents’ morning and afternoon training sessions, training camps, matches, diet, recovery and much more. There is therefore a significant risk that the two worlds will become polar opposites, pulling on the talents from each side.

The clubs’ focus on full dedication and commitment to football creates competitive environments where educational ambitions are given low priority, even though the clubs officially and externally support the talents’ education. The clubs’ flexible solutions often prioritize football over education, which can lead to poor exam results and dissatisfaction among the talents. And for the vast majority of them, in the long term, a shattered dream of a professional contract.

To wave a clean flag

The ideal of a holistic dual career and the prevailing educational imperative that education is good and more education is even better, thus harmonise very poorly with the framework and conditions for youth talents in professional football clubs, both nationally and internationally. Unfortunately, there are many youth football players today with a half-baked youth education, which in addition to a reduced learning outcome only gives access to a few university courses.

But perhaps it is not so bad at all to let the greatest 16-18-year-old talents focus solely on football and be “exempt” from education for 2-3 years. Educational delays are hardly a big problem – they really just correspond to sabbatical years, which many young people take anyway in a long education process. It is of course important to have clear frameworks and agreements between the talent, the club and the parents about a wholehearted, single-minded focus on football for a period of time.

In our opinion, elite sports – including football – can give youth athletes tools and skills that go far beyond sport, both personally and professionally. And in the big picture, a few years of delay mean very little compared to the personal development that elite sports provide.

That is precisely why the time has come for professional clubs to instead acknowledge that buying and selling the greatest talents is governing the club’s actions and that youth education is an (too) disruptive element in relation to optimal personal development as a professional footballer. It will be far more credible for the clubs and meaningful for the greatest talents to spend time and effort on education when their potential has been tested or a professional football career has ended. To professional football clubs – now let’s wave the clean flag.

Sources:

Kristian Raun Thomsen: “Fostering Dual Career Development in Danish Male Elite Football: Considerations on the Navigation of School ad Elite Sport Values” (The International Journal of Sport and Society” (Volume 15, Issue 4, 12/23/2024 – https://cgscholar.com/bookstore/works/fostering-dual-career-development-in-danish-male-elite-football)

Olesen, Jesper Stilling, and Martin Treumer Gregersen. 2023. “Exploring How Education and Sport Are Brought Together in Two Different Dual Career Programs for Danish Soccer Players: Effects for the Player’s Current and Future Life.” Soccer & Society 24: 223–234. https://doi.org/10.1080/14660970.2022.2061469

Storm, Louise K., Kristoffer Henriksen, Natalia B. Stambulova, et al. 2021. “Ten Essential Features of European Dual Career Development Environments: A Multiple Case Study.” Psychology of Sport and Exercise 54: 101918 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychsport.2021.101918

The blog was prepared in collaboration with Kristian Raun Thomsen, Associate Professor, Department of Public Health – Sport Science, Aarhus University.

Holmenkollen Ski Center on the outskirts of Oslo has iconic status for most Norwegians. So does biathlete Johannes Thingnes Boe, who on next Sunday ends an impressive career with the season’s last World Cup race at “Kollen”. The 31-year-old, likeable biathlete has been the world’s absolute best for the past decade and everyone who follows the fascinating sport will send good thoughts to Thingnes Boe, who will now prioritize his immediate family consisting of his wife Hedda Kløvstad Daehli and their two children Gustav and Sofia.

Big brother as an inspiration and competitor

Johannes Thingnes Boe was born on May 16, 1993 in Stryn in Western Norway as the second youngest of five siblings. Especially the five-year-old older brother Tarjei, who is also one of the world’s best biathletes, was a great inspiration for Johannes while growing up and together the two brothers trained and competed more and harder than most at Ullsheim Ski Center in Markana. Johannes was a student at Stryn Secondary School, which has a special biathlete course and at the age of 15 Johannes won his first national championship. The following year he made his international breakthrough with 3 gold medals at the Junior World Championships. It was therefore not surprising that Johannes Thingnes Boe, as the youngest biathlete ever, was selected for the Norwegian senior national team in the spring of 2012.

Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing – 4 gold and a bronze medal

Johannes Thingnes Boe made his Olympic debut in 2014 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi, where he achieved modest individual rakings of No. 8 in the mass start and No. 11 in the sprint. The 20-year-old Boe, together with the legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Emil Hege Svendsen and older brother Tarjei, was No. 4 in the team relay after Russia, Germany and Austria. Several years later, Russia was stripped of Olympic gold due to doping, but Norway has never officially been attributed the bronze medal, just as Germany and Austria’s medal status from the 2014 Winter Olympics has not changed either.

After the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, where Johannes Thingnes Boe won Olympic gold in the 20 km individual and 2 silver medals in the team relay and mixed relay, the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing was the biggest triuph for Thingnes Boe. 4 gold medals in sprint, mass start, relay and pair relay, as well as one bronze medal, is an Olympic record – a record that will probably never be broken.

23 World Championships – also a historical record

Johannes Thingnes Boe has won a total of 43 World Championship medals in the period 2015-2025, of which 23 are victories. The number of World Championship victories is thus greater than the two legends – Ole Einar Bjørndalen (21) and the Frenchman Martin Fourcarde (13). It is these three – Bjørndalen, Fourcarde and Thingnes Boe – who have dominated international biathlon over the past three decades. In addition to Olympic and World Championship medals, there is also great prestige and enormous prize money in the overall World Cup, which typically consists of 10 competitions spread over the entire winter. It was a special achievement that Martin Fourcarde won the overall World Cup for 7 seasons in a row (from 2011-12 to 2017-18), while Ole Einar Bjørndalen won the overall World Cup a total of 6 times over 12 seasons (from 1997-1998 to 2008-2009). Currently, Johannes Thingnes Boe has won the overall World Cup 5 times and in the last World Cup at Holmenkollen he has a good chance of matching Bjørndalen’s 6 victories. Going into next week’s World Cup, which includes three individual races – 10 km sprint (21.3.), 12.5 km mass start (22.3.) and 15 km mass start (23.3.) – Sture Holm Legreid (1.071 points) leads with 104 points ahead of Thingnes Bø, who has 967 points in 2nd place. It will be very difficult for Thingnes Boe to win the overall World Cup for the 6th time.

A new chapter awaits ahead

It was a big surprise for many that Johannes Thingnes Boe a few weeks ago chose to announce his retirement less than a year before the 2026 Winter Olympics, where the biathlon competitions will be held in Altholz-Anterselva in Northern Italy. Shortly after, his older brother Tarjei, who won the overall World Cup in the 2010-11 season, announced that he would also end his career after this season. A logical choice for big brother – the Boe-era ends on the same day. It is far from unrealistic that Johannes Thingnes Boe could win more Olympic medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics and thereby surpass Ole Einar Bjørndalen as the most winning athlete ever at the Winter Olympics with a total of 13 medals, including 8 gold medals. However, this will not be the case, as Johannes Thingnes Boe will now prioritize other things in life than biathlon.

Sources:

Lasse Lønnebotn: Brothers in Arms – Tarjei Boe and Johannes Thingnes Boe. Rivals and best friends (Kagge forlag a, 2021).

International Biathlon Union – https://www.biathlonworld.com/

I immediately recognize the face and the gigantic body when he enters the conference room at the Kääriku Sports Center – a few kilometers from the border between Estonia and Russia. The last time I spoke to Gerd Kanter was in the Olympic Village during the 2008 Olympics, where a few days before at the Beijing National Stadium I had seen the 29-year-old Estonian win Olympic gold medal in discus with a throw of 68.82 meters ahead of Malachowski from Poland (67.82 meters) and Alekna from Lithuania (67.79 meters). The 2008 Olympic gold medal was a sporting highlight for the likeable Estonian, but both before and after the 2008 Olympics, Kanter won plenty of international titles and medals, making him a legend, both in Estonia and in international athletics.

Modern Estonia – free from the iron grip of the Soviet Union

Gerd Kanter was born on 6 May 1979 in Tallinn – the capital of Estonia. This was not the case at the end of the 1970s, when Estonia was annexed by the Soviet Union – like the two other Baltic countries – Latvia and Lithuania – Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia. For more than five decades (1945-1991), these countries were held in the iron grip of censorship, nepotism and human rights abuses by Communist Russia. It was only with the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that Estonia achieved the status of an independent nation. Gerd was 12 years old when oppression, fear and poverty were replaced by dreams, hope and optimism for Gerd’s parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. Freedom of speech and democracy were put on the agenda and the material prosperity of the Estonian population developed in record time. I visited Estonia at the end of the 1990s and a few weeks ago I could see that the progress in the past three decades has been very impressive. Estonia’s level of prosperity in terms of GDP per capita is today significantly higher than nations such as Bulgaria, Greece, Croatia, Hungary and Poland. And Tallinn now looks like any other capital in Europe, with a strong infrastructure, a wide range of shops and goods, cultural offers and great sports facilities. Gerd Kanter is also in no doubt that the primary reason for Estonia’s great development is the membership of both the EU and NATO in 2004, which has created both a great material development and, not least, military security. “We have always been part of Europe and never part of Russia” – this is how Kanter expresses himself during our conversations.

The basketball player who became the world’s best discus thrower

Gerd tells me that he was 17 years old before he started practice athletics. “I always liked competition, but it was basketball that I loved at school and in the club after school. Because of my height and physique, basketball suited me well, but at some point my father thought I should try throwing – either with a shot put, discus or hammer. At that time we lived in Vana-Vigala, but in 1998 I moved to Tallinn, partly to study economics and business at the university. In the beginning, I mostly did athletics for fun, but Raul Rebane – one of my good friends – suggested that I start a collaboration with the Icelandic coach – Vesteinn Hafsteinsson. It was the start of my international career”. Gerd managed to qualify for the 2004 Olympics in Athens, where he achieved a modest 20th place (60.05 metres). The international breakthrough came the following year with World Championship silver medal and several throws over 70 metres. In the following years, a string of international medals followed: WC gold (2007), WC silver (2011) and WC bronze (2009 and 2013), 3 x European Championship silver medal (2006, 2012 and 2014) and Olympic bronze medal in London (2012). Kanter was also among the medal candidates at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, where he finished 5th (65.10 metres). Gerd Kanter’s personal record is 73.38 meters, which has only been surpassed by three throwers in the world: Mykolas Alekna (74.35 – 2024), Jürgen Schult (74.08 – 1986) and Virgilijus Alekna (73.88 – 2000). Kanter’s last season at the international top level was in 2018. It was time for the legend of 196 centimeters and 125 kilos to prioritize his wife Liinanga and their son Kristjana.

Children and youth simply move too little – also in Estonia

During our talks at the Kääriku Sports Center, Gerd offers me to drive with him back to Tallinn instead of taking the train. During the trip, which lasts a little more than three hours, Gerd tells me about his life after his career as an international top athlete. “I think that athletes should be more visible and significant in relation to sports politics, both at national and international level. That is why I chose to run for the EOC’s athlete committee in 2017, where I was elected chairman. A task for which I was re-elected in the period 2020-2024. The election also meant that I became a member of the IOC’s athlete committee. It has been very educational for me and I have built a strong and diverse network among athletes from all over the world. I think it is absolutely right that you can only be a member of such committees for 8 years”, says Gerd Kanter. On the trip, we also talk about the physical and motor skills of children and youth, which Gerd is concerned about. “I think that the healthcare system here in Estonia will be severely challenged in the future. Children and youth simply move too little and rarely play outdoors. Today, I am the director of Tallinn’s largest sports club “Spordiklubi Nord”, where we offer a number of different sports – gymnastics, athletics, swimming, basketball and martial arts. Many children – often strongly encouraged by their parents – prefer football, but I think children should try different sports. Is it also the case in Denmark – Michael – that the children spend far too much time with the mobile phone and the iPad – instead of playing outside and playing team sports with their friends?” Unfortunately, I have to confirm to Gerd that the trend is exactly the same in Denmark.

Say hello to the “messy head” and “See you again – my friend”

On the trip, there will also be time to hear about Gerd Kanter’s experiences and anecdotes from Aarhus, where he trained with Joachim B. Olsen. I tell Gerd that Joachim has been elected to the Danish Parliament for a period of time and that he is now a journalist at one of the country’s largest daily newspapers. Joachim’s career in politics and journalism surprises and delights Gerd. “Joachim was a bit of a mess, but really fun to be with. I think his girlfriend – Karen – had a handle on many of the more practical things”, says Gerd, laughing. “You must finally greet Joachim if you see him – of course also Karen. And you are very welcome to visit my sports club in Tallinn on your next visit here in Estonia”, concludes Gerd before we say “See you again – my friend”.

Source:

Gerd Kanter & Raul Rebane: “Everything is possible. 15 steps which helped an average small town boy become an Olympian champion” (Menu, 2009).

Australia, which is one of the world’s richest and most developed countries, has just presented a law in parliament that will ban children under 16 from using social media. The law must affect platforms such as TikTok, Facebook, Snapchat, Reddit, X and Instagram could face fines of up to 50 million Australian dollars for systematic failures to prevent children under 16 from creating accounts. The law has broad political support, and when it is expected to be passed, the platforms will have one year to implement the age restriction. One of the reasons why the Australian government wants an age restriction is because of harmful content, as two thirds of 14-17 year olds in Australia have seen “extremely harmful content online”, including substance abuse, suicide, self-harm and violent material. A study carried out by the analysis institute Epinion shows that three out of four children between the ages of 9 and 14 in Denmark have seen unpleasant content on the internet and social media. The Australian law is designed in such a way that there will be no exceptions – even if parents wish to give consent for their children to have a presence on social media.

The profile maximization of the tech giants is far ahead of legislation

At present, neither the government nor the Danish Parliament have plans to implement legislation on the same level as Australia, but Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen has expressed strong skepticism several times in recent months about both the scope and content of children’s use of social media. So far, however, this has only resulted in statements such as: “While the tech giants have grown into large, world-dominating companies, the rules and political demands we set have not been followed”. However, in my opinion, the biggest threats to children and youth (mis)use of social media must be found in the fact that 2/3 of Danish children in 4th grade have their phone as their preferred leisure activity after school and that time alone with the screen is a more preferred activity than being with friends, participating in sports or spending time with family.

Overprotection in the real world and without protection in the virtual world

The exponentially growing screen use among children all over the world – and thus also in Denmark – is described and discussed in an excellent way by the American social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in the book “The Anxious Generation”. Haidt distinguishes between “the real world”, where relationships between people and social interactions are characterized by four features that have been typical for millennia. They are corporeal – i.e. we communicate using the body and we react to other bodies, both consciously and unconsciously. They are synchronous – i.e. that they take place at the same time. They primarily involve one-to-one or one-to-many communication with only one interaction at a given moment. And finally, they take place within a community that has a high threshold for entry and exit, so that people are strongly motivated to invest in relationships and repair breaks and conflicts when they occur. In the past two decades, the “virtual world” has been established, where relationships between people and social interactions have the following features. They are bodiless – i.e. the body is not “necessary”, only language. The parties can also be – and already are – artificial intelligences (AI). They are highly asynchronous and take place via text-based posts. They involve a large number of one-to-many messages – i.e. broadcasting to a potentially huge audience. And finally, they take place within communities that have a low threshold for entry and exit, so that you can block others or simply leave the community when you are dissatisfied. The communities will therefore often be short-lived and the relationships unstable. Haidt documents through biological, psychological and social science research and empirical studies that overprotection in the real world and underprotection in the virtual world are the primary reasons why children born after 1995 have become “the anxious generation”. A generation where far too many children and young people are affected by dissatisfaction, self-harm, anxiety and depression. And where far too many children’s everyday lives are characterized by parents and other well-intentioned adults – teachers and sports coaches – who monitor every single aspect of the children’s time – “just” not the scope and content on the smartphone or iPad.

More free play at school and club … without mobile phones

Physical play, outdoors and with other children of different ages, is the most natural and educational play for children. Play with a certain degree of physical risk is essential so that the child learns to take care of himself and each other. Children can only learn to avoid getting hurt in situations where it is possible to get hurt. It can, for example, be climbing trees, balancing on scaffolding or playing ball with children who are faster or stronger than themselves. The most important message, however, is that when parents, teachers and coaches get involved, it usually becomes less free, less playful and less educational than when children play freely without adults and without mobile phones. As a rule, adults cannot help but direct and protect. Sports can be a fantastic arena for children and youths learning and development, but the majority of children’s and youth’s free time must take place in the “real world”, which is physical, synchronous, one-to-one or one-to-many and in groups or communities where there is a certain cost to participating or leaving and where it is required to invest in the relationships. The alternative will be a generation that, also as young people and adults, has extremely limited physical skills and a lack of social skills in relation to relationships and interaction with others.

Sources:

Jonathan Haidt: The Anxious Generation – How the Great Rewiring of Childhood Is Cousing on an Epidemic of Mental Illness (Penguin LLC US, 2024).

“Australia passes world-first law banning under-16s from social media despite safety concerns” (The Guardian, 28.11.2024).

The car factory FIAT and the football club Juventus F.C. has for many Italian families over generations been a solid unit borne of faithful loyalty. It also pleases the Bianchi family, who live in the village of Gabiano Monferrato – a little south-east of the city of Turin, where Italy’s most winning football club and largest industrial group have their home ground.

Juventus – Latin name for youth

Sport Club Juventus was formed in 1897 by young Latin students who wanted to create a sports club in the growing industrial city of Turin. Due to the young age of the founders, the name logically fell on Sport Club Juventus, which means youth in Latin. A few years later, the name was changed to Football Club Juventus, as eventually only football was played at the club. The club already won the first national championship in 1905, after which more than 20 years had to pass before the next one was won. Thus, it was only in 1923 with the Agnelli family and not least Edoardo Agnelli (1882-1935) commitment as president that the club really became a power factor in Italian and international football. The all-important difference was that the club could now buy the very best players, both in Italy and from abroad.

FIAT – the life’s work of the Agnelli family

The car factory “Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino” (FIAT) was founded by Giovanni Agnelli – Edoardo’s father – in 1899 and the factory quickly became one of Italy’s strongest growth engines. Many southern Italians and Sicilians traveled to northern Italy and the car factory for work and better living conditions. Trains that went from southern Italy to Turin and other places in the north were called “Il treno della speranza” (the train of hope) because they were filled with poor people who hoped for work and prosperity. The Fiat Group’s activities were originally focused around the industrial production of cars, locomotives and railcars, aircraft, military vehicles and agricultural machinery, but after World War II Fiat also invested in a wide range of other industries, real estate and financial services, so that today Fiat is Italy’s largest group. The group has, especially in recent decades, had enormous success with the development and sale of robots for many different industries. Today, the Fiat Group has activities in 61 countries through 1,063 companies with more than 223,000 employees, of whom 111,000 work outside Italy. The vast majority of the group’s employees, both in Italy and across the globe, are naturally also fans of Juventus F.C. It is estimated that the club has one of the world’s largest fan bases.

36 national championships and major European club through decades

It was not until the 1930s that Juventus F.C. seriously manifested itself in Italian top football with as many as five championships in a row (1931-1935). It was also players from “La Juve del Quinquennio” who formed the core of the Italian national team, which in 1934 became world champions for the first time at home and which regained the World Cup title 4 years later in France. Juventus F.C. has a total of 36 national championships and 13 Coppa Italia titles, the most successful club in Italy.Juve has also been very successful in 15 European finals and 3 World Cup finals for club teams club, which won all three European club tournaments: Eurocup for Champions (1985 and 1996), European Cup Winners’ Cup (1977, 1990 and 1993).It should also be mentioned that Juventus F.C. with 8 Champions League and Europa Cup championship finals is surpassed only by four clubs that have played in more finals, namely Real Madrid C.F., A.C. Milan, FC Bayern Munich and FC Barcelona.

La Juve dei danisi

The Italian big club also has many supporters in Denmark. This is due, among other things, to that several top Danish players have represented the club in a distinguished way. After the 1948 Olympics, where Denmark won bronze after a 5-3 victory over Italy, several of the best national team players – John Angelo Hansen (1948-1954 – 124 goals in 187 games), Carl Aage Præst (1949-1956 – 51 goals in 232 games) and Karl Aage Hansen (1950-1953 – 37 goals in 87 games) – bought by Juventus F.C. It was thus logical that the “Juve team” at the beginning of the 1950s was nicknamed “La Juve dei danisi”. All three players achieved legend status and Carl Aage Præst is still today the foreign player who has played the most Serie A matches for the Torino club. It should also be mentioned that Denmark’s best player of all time – Michael Laudrup – has played for Juventus F.C. (1985-1989 – 16 goals in 102 games) before his career continued in the two big Spanish clubs: FC Barcelona and Real Madrid C.F.

Calciopoli – a blemish on a credible big club

Juventus F.C. has, like the vast majority of Serie A clubs, also been hit by downturns and scandals. The biggest is by far the “Calciopoli scandal”, where the Italian sports newspaper “La Gazzetta dello Sport” published a series of articles about audio recordings in 2006. The recordings were intercepted telephone conversations, which showed a clear connection between the selection of referees for the best Italian football series and board chairmen and sporting directors of several of Italy’s best football clubs, among them ACF Fiorentina, S.S. Lazio, Reggina, A.C. Milan and especially Juventus F.C. The accusation was that the clubs’ top managers had influenced the results in Serie A by selecting the referees for their own and other clubs’ matches and that the strategist behind the scandal was the director of Juventus F.C., Luciano Moggi. The civil trial related to the Calciopoli scandal became a protracted affair, but Juventus F.C. was forcibly relegated to Serie B already in the 2006-2007 season and subsequently stripped of the national championships in the 2004-2005 and 2005-2006 seasons. The Calciopoli scandal became a blemish not only on Juventus F.C., but also on top Italian football in general. Among Juventus fans, there is still today great anger at the verdicts, as it is believed that Juventus F.C. largely alone ended up having to be appointed as the scapegoat for a corrupt system.

The hereditary enemies from Milan have “borrowed” the scudetto

After the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus regained F.C. very quickly past dominance in boot country. As early as the 2011-2012 season, Juventus won the national title followed by an impressive 9 championships in a row. In the last four seasons, the arch enemies from Milan – AC Milan (2021-2022) and Inter F.C. (2020-2021 and 2023-2024) as well as Napoli (2022-2023) however “borrowed” the title from Juventus F.C. This season it also looks like a close race for the title between the top clubs: Inter F.C., S.S.C. Napoli and Juventus F.C.

On Saturday evening, together with the Agnelli and Bianchi families and 41,000 fans, I will take a seat at the Stadio Allianz in Turin when “La Vecchia Signora” has a home game against S.S. Lazio from Rome. Forza Juve!

Sources:

• Juventus Football Club – https://www.juventus.com/en/
• Birgit Schönau: La Fidanzata – Juventus, Turin and Italy (Berenberg Verlag GmbH, 2018).
• Herbie Sykes: Juve! – 100 years of an Italian Football Dynasty (Yellow Jersey Press, 2021).
• Adam Digby: Juventus: A History in Black and White (Ockley Books Ltd., 2015).

Investment by the state and commercial partners in elite sports is of great importance for sporting success at international championships. For that reason, it was extremely gratifying that the Salling Foundations chose to donate DKK 60 million at the end of 2023 to Team Denmark in the period 2025-2028, while Kirkbi, which is owned by the Lego family Kirk Kristiansen, supported the same amount in the period shortly before the 2024 Olympics. And a few days ago, the Government announced that Team Denmark by the Finance Act 2025 will receive a total of DKK 35 million extra in 2027 and 2028 to support Danish athletes in the lead up to the 2028 Olympics in L.A. Danish elite sports thus enter a new Olympiad significantly strengthened financially, where according to Team Denmark’s strategy and support concept 2025-2028 “… there is a clear tendency towards stagnation in Denmark’s level of international results at the same time as many other countries invest significant funds in elite sports and win more and more medals”. The stagnation was also expressed at the 2024 Olympics, where 9 medals were less than both Rio 2016 (15) and Tokyo 2020 (11). However, in my opinion, it was far more worrying that Denmark’s top-8 ranking points of 103 in Paris were significantly less than the last 3 Olympic Games (London 2012: 148, Rio 2016: 135 and Tokyo 2020: 135). Top-8 ranking points are the best indicator in relation to how many athletes and teams and which sports are in the “fight for medals”.

The 2024 Olympics – Illogical connection between resources and results

The Olympic Games are for the majority of federations that enter into cooperation agreements with Team Denmark, the “final exam” in the 4-year cooperation period. Financial resources and expert services are largely focused on achieving satisfactory Olympic results, which is far from being successful for everyone in Paris. The biggest surprise was that many of the sports which have been allocated the most financial resources over the past 3 years – e.g. rowing, sailing, cycling, swimming, athletics and kayaking – did not meet the performance targets. On the other hand, sports such as handball, badminton, dressage, wrestling and table tennis did, as well as parasport at the 2024 Paralympics. It was equally surprising that the 20-year-old taekwondo fighter Edi Hrnic from Roedovre Taekwondo Club won Olympic bronze medal without the Danish Taekwondo Federation having a cooperation agreement with Team Denmark in the period leading up to the 2024 Olympics.

Team Denmark’s new strategy contains many qualities 

Denmark is one of the very few countries in the world where elite sports are enshrined in legislation. The Elite Sports Act states that Team Denmark’s primary objective is to develop Danish elite sports in a socially responsible manner. The public self-governing institution must, in collaboration with the National Olympic Committee and Sports  Confederation of Denmark (DIF), the federations of DIF, and other relevant partners, initiate, coordinate and streamline common measures within 12 specific areas of action. It also appears from the Elite Sports Act that it is Team Denmark’s task “…to focus and prioritize the areas of effort based on a support concept that describes what and who can obtain direct and/or indirect support”. Team Denmark’s support concept, which covers a 4-year period, thus describes criteria for the cooperation between the individual federations and Team Denmark. “Strategy and support concept 2025-2028”, which has just been adopted by the institution’s board and published, contains many qualities and deserves praise. The concept is not just a “copy” of previous editions, but contains both good visions and new concrete initiatives. I am particularly excited about two clear and unambiguous announcements. Firstly, it is emphasized that “… there is a need to increase the quality and efforts in Danish elite sports. That is why Team Denmark is sharpening its focus and priorities”. Secondly, the forward-looking strategic priorities rest on a strong analysis of the outside world. In my opinion, Danish elite sports must always be further developed from a comparative, international perspective. Viewing and knowledge sharing with nations such as Norway, the Netherlands, Ireland and New Zealand are very important, both in relation to the economy and framework conditions for athletes as well as expert services, elite coaching skills, technology and data as well as talent development.

Unclear distribution of roles and responsibilities about talent development

According to the Act on Elite Sports, Team Denmark is obliged to “… take care of talent recruitment and development”. And in particular, the revision of the law in 2004 assigned Team Denmark, through cooperation agreements with municipalities and dissemination of knowledge by the Age-Related Training Concept (ATK), a very decisive role in the talent work of the individual confederations. The quality of talent development in Danish sports has been significantly strengthened in recent decades, but there is a need for a new paradigm in this area of ​​effort. There are good intentions in the upcoming support concept in relation to strengthening talent’s transition from Youth national to A national team through “… to establish a talent-to-elite transition program with sporting, educational and individual counseling for selected transition talents” and “… to support federations, coaches, elite municipalities and educational partners to strengthen the talent-to-elite transition”. But the distribution of roles and responsibilities between the many actors in relation to resources (finances and time) is far too diffuse and unclear. For that reason, there are significant “risks” that in the coming years Team Denmark will spend (altogether) too many financial resources on talent development, as the primary responsibility for talent recruitment and development in the future should, in my opinion, lie with the individual federations in cooperation with the National Olympic Committee and Sports  Confederation of Denmark (DIF), and the elite municipalities.

Does Team Denmark have the courage for radical changes?

Team Denmark’s administration faces a very difficult task in the coming weeks and months, when the series of dialogue meetings with the individual federations will take place. It will be relatively easy to place the individual federations in three categories: World-class federations, Elite federations and Innovation-supported federations based on a number of objective criteria. It will be much more difficult when Team Denmark must determine the level of financial support, where both achieving results at international championships, including the 2024 Olympics, in the period 2022-2024 and not least medal and top-8 potential in both 2025-2028 and 2029-2032 are brought into play. The federations in Danish elite sports are very different, also in relation to the composition of costs. For that reason, it is also extremely difficult to compare Team Denmark’s level of support – both in relation to finances and indirect support in the form of equipment, material, training facilities, expert services and much more – to the individual federations. In my opinion, the most exciting thing about the upcoming dialogue meetings and the board’s decisions before 1 January 2025 will be whether the individual federations’ support will be continued with minor adjustments of 5-10% or whether Team Denmark, after professional analyzes and assessments, has the ability and courage to decide radical changes of 20-60% – both in a positive and negative direction – in the period 2025-2028.

 

Next Wednesday, there is the opening ceremony at the “Place de la Concorde” of “Paris 2024 Paralympic Games”, where iconic arenas – Stade de France, Roland-Garros, Bercy Arena, Palace of Versailles, Grand Palais, Invalides and Eiffel Tower – are the venues for 4,400 paralympians, who will compete in 22 different sports over 12 days. A total of 549 medal sets are to be awarded – from a single medal set in wheelchair rugby, where Denmark is qualified, to as many as 164 medal sets in athletics.

All four Nordic nations – Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark – have participated in the Paralympic Games from the late 1960s and through the 1970s and 1980s the Nordic nations were most often placed among the top 25 in the national ranking. Sweden won a total of 160 medals at the 1984 Paralympic Games and thereby achieved 4th place in the national ranking, where Denmark and Norway were No. 10 and No. 11 with 90 and 59 medals respectively. However, it should be mentioned that paralympians and teams from 55 nations participated in 1984, but the number of nations at the upcoming PL 2024 in Paris are no less than 182 from all few continents.

The Nordic countries have been overtaken

In recent decades, the Nordic countries have been overtaken by a large number of nations in international para-sports, which has many reasons. The main reason is that many nations – often with much larger populations than the Nordic countries – have invested large financial resources in para-sports, especially with a view to achieving top results at international championships. The last three Paralympic Games have been dominated by strong sporting nations such as China, Great Britain, United States, Russia, Ukraine, the Netherlands and Australia, while the Nordic countries have typically been ranked No. 30-50 in the national ranking. There are many indications that the strongest sports nations have invested relatively more in para-sports than the Nordic nations in recent decades. Both Sweden (0.6%), Norway (0.4%) and Denmark’s share (0.4%) of the total number of medals at the last three Paralympic Games have been significantly less than these three nations’ medal share at the Olympic Games in the same period (Sweden: 0.9% – Norway: 0.5% – Denmark: 1.2%).

Sweden – Most PG medals and fewest sports

Sweden has historically been the best Nordic nation, which has also been the case at the last three Paralympic Games: London 2012 with 12 medals (4-4-4), Rio 2016 with 10 medals (1-4-5) and Tokyo 2020 with 8 medals (1-5-2). The medals are primarily won in table tennis, swimming, shooting, dressage and cycling. Sweden has usually been represented in many sports, which is not the case in Paris, where Swedish para-athletes and teams are qualified in 7 sports. For comparison, it can be mentioned that Sweden was represented in 12 sports at PG 2012, 15 sports at PG 2016 and 11 sports in PG 2020. Among the biggest medal candidates in Paris are, in my opinion, the cyclists Anna Beck and Louise Jannering, who both won medals in Tokyo. In addition, dressage rider Louise Etzner Jakobsson, judo fighter Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich and several table tennis players have good medal chances.

Norway – Skarstein as the biggest medal candidate

At the last three Paralympic Games, Norway has especially achieved top results in swimming, dressage and rowing. Norwegian athletes won 8 medals (3-2-3) at both London 2012 and Rio 2016, while somewhat disappointingly only 4 medals (2-0-2) in Tokyo. At 2024 PG, Norway is represented by para-athletes and teams in 7 sports, where rower Birgit Skarstein is, in my opinion, the biggest medal candidate. The 35-year-old Skarstein is also an extremely skilled cross-country skier and she is also a member of the IPC’s athlete committee. Norway also has medal candidates in dressage, although Ann Cathrin Lübbe with 8 medals (3-3-2) at the last 5 Paralympic Games is not part of the Norwegian PG team. I also think that the 100-meter runner Salum Ageze Kashafali, who won gold in Tokyo, and the table tennis player Aida Dahlen, who won bronze in Tokyo, are strong medal candidates for Norway.

Finland – Impressive results in athletics

Finland has historically proud traditions in athletics, which is also the case in para-sports. Finnish para-athletes have won a total of 28 medals at the last 5 Paralympic Games, including an impressive 21 medals in athletics. In particular, Leo-Pekka Tähti with 5 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal in sprints at the last 5 Paralympic Games and javelin thrower Marjaanna Heikkinen with 1 silver and 2 bronze medals at the last 3 Paralympic Games have won medals, which will probably also be the case in Paris. Finland has qualified for 2024 PG in 6 sports, which is significantly fewer than Rio (11) and Tokyo (7).

Denmark – Good medal chances for experienced Paralympians

At the last three Paralympic Games, Denmark has especially achieved top results in athletics, dressage, table tennis and taekwondo, where the number of medals has been 5 (1-0-4) in London 2012, 7 (1-2-4) in Rio 2016 and latest 5 (3-1-1) in Tokyo. The biggest Danish medal candidates in Paris are all para-athletes who won a medal in Tokyo: Taekwondo fighter Lisa Kjær, Daniel Wagner – who has won a total of 4 medals in long jump and 100 meter race – dressage rider Tobias Thorning Jørgensen and table tennis player Peter Rosenmeier. Rosenmeier will participate in the Paralympic Games for the 6th time in a row – and each time with a medal as a result. The 40-year-old sympathetic dane has been a fantastic representative of Danish elite sports for two decades. Denmark is represented by athletes and teams in 9 sports in Paris, which is more than London (8), Rio (6) and Tokyo (7).

Need for more visionary goal setting

Para-sports – both elite sport and sport for people with different types of disabilities – has become more and more widespread throughout the five continents of the globe in recent decades. Today, there is not much difference between the nations that dominate the medal stands at the Olympic and Paralympic Games. For that reason, it must be expected that each of the Nordic countries will win between 5-10 medals, probably with Sweden as the most winning nation in the Nordics. A future goal for the Nordic countries’ results at the upcoming Paralympic Games in 2028 and beyond could be that para-athletes and teams are qualified in the same proportion of sports and win the same – or perhaps even greater – proportion of medals than the individual nation’s athletes and teams at the Olympic Games.

Postscript – 9 September 2024

“Paris 2024 Paralympic Games” was a great sporting success for both Denmark and Norway, while Sweden experienced a significant decrease in the number of PL-medals and positions on the IPC’s nation ranking compared to Tokyo 2020. Finally, Finland won 4 medals (0-1-3), which is on the same level as the last three Paralympics.

Denmark won a total of 10 medals (2-3-5), which placed them at No. 38 on the IPC’s official national ranking. The 10 medals for Danish athletes and teams were won in 7 different sports – the best Danish PG-result since “Athens 2004 Paralymics”. Both Daniel Wagner (long jump and 100 meters) and Emma Lund (cycling – line race and time trial) won 2 medals, as did Lisa Kjaer (taekwondo) and Peter Rosenmeier (table tennis) also won bronze medals. Among the biggest Danish surprises were swimmer Alexander Hillhouse (100 meter butterfly), dressage rider Katrine Kristensen (silver medal), rifle shooter Martin Black Jørgensen (bronze medal) and long jumper Bjoerk Noerremark (bronze medal). It was particularly positive that several of the Danish medal winners were PG debutants.

Norway won a total of 7 medals in 5 sports (no. 54 – IPC’s ranking), which is also significantly better than Tokyo 2020, where it was 4 medals (2-0-2). Both the rower Birgit Skarstein (silver), the 100-meter runner Salum Ageze Kashafali (silver) and the table tennis player Aida Husic Dahlen (silver) lived up to the expectations as a medal candidate. Complemented by badminton player Helle Sofie Sagoey (bronze medal), swimmer Fredrik Solberg (bronze medal – 50 meter free), women’s doubles Aida Husic Dahl and Merethe Tveiten (table tennis – bronze medal) and not least PG gold winner Tommy Urhaug confirmed Norway’s position as one of the world’s best sporting nations.

Sweden‘s para-athletes and teams failed to maintain their position as the Nordic’s best and a ranking of no. 72 in the IPC’s national ranking must be considered very disappointing. The three medals for Sweden were not surprisingly won by the cyclist Anna Beck (bronze medal – time trial), the judo fighter Nicolina Pernheim Goodrich (bronze medal), while the rifle shooter Anna Benson delivered the biggest positive performance by a silver medal. It should also be mentioned that the Swedish table tennis players qualified for a total of six quarter-finals without any of the quarter-finalists succeeding in playing in the semi-finals, thereby securing at least a bronze medal.

The “Paris 2024 Paralympic Games” showed significantly higher quality and tougher competition, also by athletes and teams from nations that have not previously competed for medals. China (220 medals), Great Britain (124 medals) and the United States (105 medals) were unsurprisingly the most winning nations, but so were nations such as Brazil (89 medals), Ukraine (82 medals), Australia (63 medals) and the Netherlands (56 medals) pleasantly surprised. The greatest breadth and higher qualities in international parasport was also expressed by the fact that 85 nations out of 170 participating nations – 50 percent – won at least one medal in Paris.

Sources:

Paris 2024 Paralympic Games – https://www.paralympic.org/paris-2024

Sverige Paralympiska Kommitté – https://www.paralympics.se/

Team Norway – https://www.teamnor.no/

Finnish Paralympic Committee – https://www.paralympia.fi/in-english

Parasport Danmark – https://parasport.dk/aktiviteter/elite-events/de-paralympiske-lege/

Rasmus K. Storm, Troels Kollerup Jensen and Klaus Nielsen: Swedish elite sports. External evaluation. (Danish Institute for Sports Studies, 2024).