Denmark is a nation with great Olympic traditions. Apart from the Games in St. Louis 1904 Denmark has participated in all Olympic Summer Games. In 1904 Denmark like most of the European nations considered the distance and the practical difficulties in getting to the United States to be too heavy.

At the first modern Games in Athens 1896 Denmark participated with only three athletes. The names of the Danish Olympic pioneers are: Eugen Schmidt, Viggo Jensen and Holger Nielsen. The three athletes gained the remarkable result of one gold medal, two silver medals and three bronze medals.

Denmark attended the Olympic Winter Games for the first time in St. Moritz 1948 with two athletes: Per Cock-Clausen and Aage Justesen.

In the period since the inaugural Games in Athens 1896 Denmark has had two athletes with outstanding results on the highest international level: Yachtsman Paul Elvstrøm and female swimmer Ragnhild Hveger.

Paul Elvstrøm is Denmarks greatest Olympic athlet of all time. Between 1948 and 1988 he attended the Olympic Games eight times. Paul Elvstrøm made Olympic history by winning four succesive gold medals in the one-man dinghy class, the first man to achieve such a result in any sport. In London 1948 he won the Firefly-class and in 1952-60 the Finn Dinghy-class. At the age of sixty he took part in the Games for the last time in Seoul 1988, this time with his daughter Trine as partner in the Tornado-class.

In the years between 1936 and 1942 Ragnhild Hveger was the worlds dominating female swimmer. During those years she broke 44 world records. Her 200 m, 800 m and 1500 m crawl world record times stood for more than 15 years. Ragnhild Hveger is perhaps the greatest swimmer who never won Olympic gold. In Berlin 1936, at the age of 15, she took silver in the 400 m crawl final. The cancellation of the Olympic Games in 1940 and 1944 - because of World War II - denied Ragnhild Hveger the opportunity to participate in the Games, while she was competing at her highest level. She retired in 1945 and did not attempt to compete in the 1948 Games in London. In Helsingfors 1952, at the age of 32, she came back and took 4th place in the 400 m crawl final.

Another outstanding Danish athlete is Ivan Osiier. In the years between 1912 and 1948 he attended the fencing events in the Olympic Games seven times. The Danish women's handball team should also be mentioned for winning three succesive gold medals in the 1996-2004 Games.

In total Denmark has won 43 gold medals at the Olympic Summer Games, one together with the Swedish team in the Tug of War event in Paris 1900. Denmark was most successful in the 1948 Games in London when the Danish athletes won 5 gold medals, 7 silver medals and 8 bronze medals.

In Olympic Winter Games Denmark has won only one medal, a silver medal in the women's curling event from the 1998 Games in Nagano.