Denmark at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Denmark competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London, England. 162 competitors, 144 men and 18 women, took part in 83 events in 17 sports.^[1]

Denmark at the 1948 Summer Olympics
IOC code	DEN
NOC	National Olympic Committee and Sports Confederation of Denmark
Website	www.dif.dk (in Danish and English)
in London
Competitors	162 in 17 sports
Flag bearer	Vagn Loft
Medals Ranked 10th	Gold 5 Silver 7 Bronze 8 Total 20
Summer Olympics appearances (overview)
1896 1900 1904 1908 1912 1920 1924 1928 1932 1936 1948 1952 1956 1960 1964 1968 1972 1976 1980 1984 1988 1992 1996 2000 2004 2008 2012 2016 2020 2024
Other related appearances
1906 Intercalated Games

Medalists

Medal	Name	Sport	Event	Date
Gold	Greta Andersen	Swimming	Women's 100 m freestyle	2 August
Gold	Karen Harup	Swimming	Women's 100 m backstroke	5 August
Gold	Carl-Ebbe Andersen Tage Henriksen Finn Pedersen	Rowing	Men's coxed pair	9 August
Gold	Karen Hoff	Canoeing	Women's K-1 500 m	12 August
Gold	Paul Elvstrøm	Sailing	Men's Firefly	12 August
Silver	Karen Lachmann	Fencing	Women's foil individual	2 August
Silver	Greta Andersen Fritze Carstensen Karen Harup Eva Riise	Swimming	Women's 4 × 100 m freestyle relay	6 August
Silver	Karen Harup	Swimming	Women's 400 m freestyle	7 August
Silver	Aage Larsen Ebbe Parsner	Rowing	Men's doubles sculls	9 August
Silver	Ib Storm Larsen Helge Schrøder Helge Halkjær Aksel Hansen	Rowing	Men's coxless fours	9 August
Silver	Johan Andersen	Canoeing	Men's K-1 1000 m	12 August
Silver	Ejvind Hansen Bernhard Jensen	Canoeing	Men's K-2 1000 m	12 August
Bronze	Lily Carlstedt	Athletics	Women's javelin throw	31 July
Bronze	Henrik Hansen	Wrestling	Men's Greco-Roman welterweight	6 August
Bronze	Birte Christoffersen	Diving	Women's 10 m platform	6 August
Bronze	Axel Schandorff	Cycling	Men's Sprint	9 August
Bronze	Børge Nielsen Jørgen Olsen Harry Knudsen Erik Larsen Henry Larsen	Rowing	Men's coxed four	9 August
Bronze	Klaus Baess Ole Berntsen William Berntsen	Sailing	Men's Dragon	12 August
Bronze	Svend Wad	Boxing	Men's Lightweight	13 August
Bronze	Denmark national football team Knud Bastrup-Birk Hans Colberg Edvin Hansen John Hansen Jørgen W. Hansen Karl Aage Hansen Erik Kuld Jensen Ivan Jensen Ove Jensen Viggo Jensen Per Knudsen Knud Lundberg Eigil Nielsen Knud Børge Overgaard Poul Petersen Axel Pilmark Johannes Pløger Karl Aage Præst Holger Seebach Erling Sørensen Jørgen Leschly Sørensen Dion Ørnvold	Football	Men's competition	13 August

Athletics

Main article: Athletics at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Men

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Herluf Christensen	800 metres	DNF		Did not advance
Niels Holst-Sørensen		1:54.2	1 Q	1:52.4	3 Q	1:54.0	9
Erik Jørgensen	1500 metres	3:54.2	2 Q	—		3:56.1	9[2]
Henning Larsen	Marathon	—				2:41:22.0	10
Ingvard Nielsen	1500 metres	4:01.7	7	Did not advance
Alf Olesen	3000 m steeplechase	9:33.6	5	Did not advance
Aage Poulsen	5000 metres	DNF		—		Did not advance

Field events

Athlete	Event	Qualification		Final
		Distance	Position	Distance	Position
Poul Cederquist	Hammer throw	48.16	15	Did not advance
Svend Aage Frederiksen		51.35	4 Q	50.07	10
Preben Larsen	Triple jump	14.520	14 q	14.830	4

Women

Track & road events

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Bente Bergendorff	100 metres	12.6	2 Q	NT	4	Did not advance
Birthe Nielsen		12.9	2 Q	12.5	3	Did not advance
Grethe Lovsø Nielsen		12.6	1 Q	12.7	3	Did not advance
Bente Bergendorff Grethe Lovsø Nielsen Birthe Nielsen Hilde Nissen	4 × 100 m relay	48.1	2 Q	—		48.2	5

Field events

Athlete	Event	Final
		Distance	Position
Lily Carlstedt-Kelsby	Javelin throw	42.08
Anne Iversen	High jump	1.50	9

Boxing

Main article: Boxing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	1 Round	2 Round	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Opposition Result	Rank
Erik Thastum	Bantamweight	Olavi Ouvinen (FIN) L PTS	Did not advance
Svend Aage Sørensen	Featherweight	Pedro Garcia (PER) L PTS	Did not advance
Svend Wad	Lightweight	Gene Raymond (IND) W PTS	Alberto Boullosa (URU) W PTS	Maxie McCullagh (IRL) W PTS	Gerald Dreyer (RSA) L PTS	Wallace Smith (USA) W WO
Christian Kristensen	Welterweight	Max Shacklady (GBR) L KO-3	Did not advance
Martin Hansen	Middleweight	Evert Johanson (NOR) W KO-1	Aimé-Joseph Escudie (FRA) L PTS	Did not advance
Erik Jensen	Light Heavyweight	Chuck Spieser (USA) L PTS	Did not advance

Canoeing

Main article: Canoeing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Sprint

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechages		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Johan Frederik Kobberup	K-1 1000 m	4:40.9	1 Q	—				4:39.9
Knud Ditlevsen	K-1 10000 m	—						51:54.2	4
Ejvind Hansen Bernhard Jensen	K-2 1000 m	NT	1 Q	—				4:07.5
Alfred Christensen Finn Rasmussen	K-2 10000 m	—						47:17.5	4

Women

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechages		Semifinals		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Karen Hoff	K-1 500 m	2:32.2	1 Q	—				2:31.9

Cycling

Main article: Cycling at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Eleven cyclists, all men, represented Denmark in 1948.

Road

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Knud Andersen	Men's road race	5:39:57.2	28
Børge Saxil Nielsen		DNF
Kristian Pedersen		5:39:57.2	27
Rudolf Rasmussen		DNF
Kristian Pedersen Knud Andersen Børge Saxil Nielsen Rudolf Rasmussen	Team road race	DNF

Track

1000m time trial

Athlete	Event	Time	Rank
Axel Schandorff	Men's 1000m time trial	1:15.5	5

Men's Sprint

Athlete	Event	Heats	Repechage 1	Round 2	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Time Speed (km/h)	Rank	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Rank
Axel Schandorff	Men's sprint	Bazzano (AUS) W 1:49.8	BYE	Welt (AUT) W 1:49.6	Heid (USA) W 2:0	Ghella (ITA) L 0-2	Bazzano (AUS) W 2-0

Men's Tandem

Athlete	Event	Heats	Repechage	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Opposition Time Speed (km/h)	Rank
Hans Andresen Evan Klamer	Tandem	Van Schill De Pauw (BEL) W 4:53.6	BYE	Faye Dron (FRA) L 0-2	Did not advance		5

Pursuit

Athlete	Event	Round of 16	Quarterfinals	Semifinals	Final
		Time	Opposition Time	Opposition Time	Opposition Time	Rank
Max Jørgensen Børge Gissel Børge Mortensen Benny Schnoor	Team pursuit	—	Australia (AUS) W 5:04.1 Q	Great Britain (GBR) L 5:05.6	Did not advance	5

Diving

Main article: Diving at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Final
		Points	Rank
Thomas Christiansen	3 m springboard	114.59	8
	10m platform	105.22	6

Women

Athlete	Event	Final
		Points	Rank
Inge Beeken	10m platform	59.54	8
Birte Christoffersen	3 m springboard	87.12	9
	10m platform	66.04

Equestrian

Main article: Equestrian at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Eventing

Athlete	Horse	Event	Dressage		Cross-country			Jumping			Total
								Final
			Penalties	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Total	Rank	Penalties	Rank
Erik Carlsen	Esja	Individual	113.00	14	69	44	11	0	44	5	44	5
Kai Aage Krarup	Rollo		114.00	16	63	51	15	14	65	14	65	14
Niels Mikkelsen	St. Hans		108.00	8	78	30	5	DSQ			Did not finish
Erik Carlsen Kai Aage Krarup Niels Mikkelsen	See above	Team	335	4	210	125	1	AC	AC	AC	Did not finish

Show jumping

Athlete	Horse	Event	Final
			Penalties	Rank
Otto Mønsted Acthon	Please	Individual	DNF
Jeppe Johannes Ladegaard-Mikkelsen	Atom		DNF
Torben Tryde	Attila		DNF
Otto Mønsted Acthon Jeppe Johannes Ladegaard-Mikkelsen Torben Tryde	See above	Team	DNF

Fencing

Main article: Fencing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

15 fencers, 12 men and 3 women, represented Denmark in 1948.

Men's foil

• Ivan Ruben
• Aage Leidersdorff
• Ole Albrechtsen

Men's team foil

• Ivan Ruben, Ole Albrechtsen, Aage Leidersdorff, Tage Jørgensen, Ivan Osiier, Flemming Vögg

Men's épée

• Mogens Lüchow
• Ib Nielsen

Men's team épée

• Mogens Lüchow, Erik Andersen, Ib Nielsen, René Dybkær, Jakob Lyng, Kenneth Flindt

Men's sabre

• Aage Leidersdorff
• Ivan Ruben
• Ivan Osiier

Women's foil

• Karen Lachmann
• Grete Olsen
• Kate Mahaut

Field hockey

Main article: Field hockey at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Group stage

The first of each group and also the second of Group C qualified for the Semi-finals.

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification
1	Pakistan	4	4	0	0	20	3	+17	8	Semi-finals
2	Netherlands	4	3	0	1	11	8	+3	6
3	Belgium	4	2	0	2	6	8	−2	4
4	France	4	0	1	3	4	9	−5	1
5	Denmark	4	0	1	3	4	17	−13	1

Source: ^{[citation needed]}

31 July 1948 Denmark  2–2  France

2 August 1948 Netherlands  4–1  Denmark

3 August 1948 Pakistan  9–0  Denmark

5 August 1948 Belgium  2–1  Denmark

Football

Main article: Football at the 1948 Summer Olympics

First round

31 July 1948

18:30

Denmark	3–1 (aet)	Egypt
K. Hansen 82' 95' Pløger 119' (pen.)	Report	El Guindy 83'

Selhurst Park, South Norwood

Attendance: 12,000

Referee: Stanley Boardman (Great Britain)

Quarter-final

5 August 1948

18:30

Denmark	5–3	Italy
John Hansen 30', 53', 74', 82' Pløger 84'	Report	Cavigioli 49' Caprile 67' Pernigo 81'

Arsenal Stadium, Highbury

Attendance: 25,000

Referee: William Ling (Great Britain)

Semi-final

10 August 1948

18:30

Sweden	4–2	Denmark
Carlsson 18' 42' Rosén 31' 37'	Report	Seebach 3' John Hansen 77'

Empire Stadium, Wembley

Attendance: 20,000

Referee: Stanley Boardman (Great Britain)

Bronze medal match

13 August 1948

14:00

Great Britain	3–5	Denmark
Aitken 5' Hardisty 33' Amor 63' (pen.)	Report	Præst 12', 49' John Hansen 16', 77' J. Sørensen 41'

Empire Stadium, Wembley

Attendance: 50,000

Referee: Karel van der Meer (Netherlands)

Gymnastics

Main article: Gymnastics at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Rowing

Main article: Rowing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Denmark had 25 male rowers participate in six out of seven rowing events in 1948.^[3]

Men

Athlete	Event	Heats		Repechage		Quarterfinal		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Aage Larsen Ebbe Parsner	Double sculls	6:50.1	1 Q	BYE		—		7:48.3	1 Q	6:55.3
Søren Jensen Jørn Snogdahl	Coxless pair	7:28.3	3 R	7:26.4	1 Q	—		7:54.3	2	Did not advance	4
Carl-Ebbe Andersen Tage Henriksen Finn Pedersen	Coxed pair	7:51.7	2 Q	7:51.2	1 Q	—		8:12.7	1 Q	8:00.5
Aksel Bonde Helge Halkjær Helge Muxoll Schrøder Ib Storm Larsen	Coxless four	6:40.5	2 R	6:35.1	1 Q	—		7:13.8	1 Q	6:43.5
Erik Larsen Henry Larsen Ib Olsen Børge Raahauge Nielsen Harry Knudsen	Coxed four	6:52.5	1 Q	BYE		7:21.3	1 Q	7:31.3	1 Q	6:58.6
Jarl Emcken Børge Hougaard Poul Korup Holger Larsen Ib Nielsen Niels Rasmussen Gerhardt Sørensen Niels Wamberg Charles Willumsen	Eights	6:17.6	3 R	6:09.4	2	Did not advance					8

Sailing

Main article: Sailing at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Open

Athlete	Event	Race							Net points	Final rank
		1	2	3	4	5	6	7
Paul Elvstrøm	Firefly	DNF	6	3	11	5	1	1	5543
Johan Rathje Naalli Petersen	Swallow	8	7	1	9	10	7	12	2935	5
William Berntsen Klaus Baess Ole Berntsen	Dragon	3	4	3	5	2	5	2	4223
Troels la Cour Bruno Clausen Svend Iversen René la Cour Hans Sørensen A. Eiermann Eyvin Schiøttz	6 Metre	10	5	4	11	10	10	8	1648	10

Shooting

Main article: Shooting at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Seven shooters represented Denmark in 1948.

Men

Athlete	Event	Final
		Score	Rank
Børge Christensen	Men's 50 metre rifle prone	585	42
Axel Lerche	Men's 25 metre pistol	540	31
Gregers Münter		498	51
Gustaf Nielsen	Men's 300 metre rifle three positions	1057	19
	Men's 50 metre rifle prone	595	11
Erik Sætter-Lassen		588	32
Uffe Schultz Larsen	Men's 300 metre rifle three positions	1047	21
Charles Villholth	Men's 25 metre pistol	523	41

Swimming

Main article: Swimming at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Women

Athlete	Event	Heat		Semifinal		Final
		Time	Rank	Time	Rank	Time	Rank
Greta Andersen	100 metre freestroke	1:07.0	3 Q	1:05.9	1 Q	1:06.3
	400 metre freestroke	DNF	19	Did not advance
Fritze Carstensen	100 metre freestroke	1:06.5	1 Q	1:07.5	2 Q	1:09.1	8
	400 metre freestroke	5:29.4	3 Q	5:29.5	5 Q	5:29.4	7
Jytte Hansen	200 metre breaststroke	3:09.1	2 Q	3:05.5	3 Q	3:08.1	8
Karen Margrethe Harup	100 metre freestroke	1:08.4	8 Q	1:08.7	8 q	1:08.1	4
	400 metre freestroke	5:31.7	7 Q	5:25.7 OR	1 Q	5:21.2
	100 metre backstroke	1:15.6	1 Q	1:15.5 OR	1 Q	1:14.4 OR
Eva Arndt-Riise Karen Margrethe Harup Greta Andersen Fritze Carstensen Elvi Svendsen	4 x 100 metre freestyle	4:33.5	1 Q	—		4:29.6

Weightlifting

Main article: Weightlifting at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Men

Athlete	Event	Military Press		Snatch		Clean & Jerk		Total	Rank
		Result	Rank	Result	Rank	Result	Rank
Johan Runge	60 kg	95	4	90	12	120	8	305	7
Jørgen Fryd Petersen	67.5 kg	90	14	97.5	10	127.5	9	315	10
Jørgen Moritzen	75 kg	87.5	22	95	17	DNS		DNF
Niels Petersen	+82.5 kg	115	9	112.5	7	155	5	382.5	6

Wrestling

Main article: Wrestling at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Men's Greco-Roman

Athlete	Event	Elimination pool					Final round
		Round 1 Result	Round 2 Result	Round 3 Result	Round 4 Result	Round 5 Result	Final round Result	Rank
Svend Aage Thomsen	−52 kg	Pietro Lombardi (ITA) L 0–3	Kenan Olcay (TUR) L 0-3	Did not advance				11
Kolle Lejserowitz	−57 kg	Mahmoud Hassan (EGY) L 1-2	Reidar Merli (NOR) L 0–0 P	Did not advance				11
Abraham Kurland	−67 kg	Alfred Jauch (SUI) W RET	Charif Damage (LIB) L 0–3	Gustav Freij (SWE) L 2-1	Did not advance			9
Henrik Hansen	−73 kg	Kemal Munir (EGY) W F	Gösta Andersson (SWE) L 0–3	Bjørn Cook (NOR) W 3-0	Josef Schmidt (AUT) W F	Miklós Szilvási (HUN) L F	Did not advance
Erling Stuer Lauridsen	−87 kg	Ibrahim Mahgoub (LIB) W 3-0	Peter Enzinger (AUT) W F	Karl-Erik Nilsson (SWE) L 0-3	Kelpo Gröndahl (FIN) L F	Did not advance		6

Art competitions

Main article: Art competitions at the 1948 Summer Olympics

Athlete	Event	Category	Title	Rank
Josef Petersen	Literature	Epic works	"The Olympic Champion"
Erling Brene	Music	Choral and orchestral	"Vigeur"
Knud Nellemose	Sculpture	Statues	"Young Man with Discus", "Head of a Boxer"	NM
Medals and plaques	"Group of Wrestlers", "Football Players"	NM