BADMINTON PLAYERS from Denmark

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Danish Badminton Players of all time. This list of famous Danish Badminton Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Danish Badminton Players.

1. Peter Gade (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 48.75, Peter Gade is the most famous Danish Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 33 different languages on wikipedia.

Peter Høeg Gade (born 14 December 1976 in Aalborg, Denmark) is a Danish former professional badminton player. He currently resides in Holte in Copenhagen. He has two children with the former handball player Camilla Høeg. Gade made his mark in badminton history through his All England Open Badminton Championships singles title in 1999 and his five European Championships crowns in the men's singles event. He topped the world rankings from 1998 to 2001. With his 22 Grand-Prix titles, he is one of the sport's most successful players. On 22 June 2006, he briefly recaptured the number one spot in the world rankings. This was achieved after winning the Singapore Open and reaching the quarter-final at the Malaysia Open. With his defeat in the quarter-finals of the 2012 French Open, Gade retired from international competition.

2. Viktor Axelsen (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 48.02, Viktor Axelsen is the 2nd most famous Danish Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Viktor Axelsen (born 4 January 1994) is a Danish badminton player. He is a two-time Olympic Champion, two-time World Champion, and four-time European Champion. He has held the No. 1 BWF World Ranking in men's singles for a total of 183 weeks (as of August 2024), and he is the current world No. 3. Throughout his career, Axelsen has won every single major title in both team and individual events at least once (World Tour Super 1000 level or higher), except for Sudirman Cup (where his team won Bronze in 2013). Known for his powerful smashes and solid defence, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest badminton players of all time. Axelsen won the World Championships in 2017 and 2022, becoming the only non-Asian male player besides Thomas Lund to win the title twice. He is also the back-to-back reigning Olympic Champion, winning the gold medals in men's singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics after his bronze medal in 2016 Rio Olympics, thereby becoming the most successful badminton men’s singles player in Olympic history. Axelsen has led Denmark team to win all European Mixed Team Championships since 2015 and all European Men's Team Championships since 2012. On individual levels, he won three European Championships titles in 2016, 2018, and 2022, and a gold medal at the European Games in 2023. He also won the 2010 World Junior Championships, becoming the only non-Asian singles player to win the title. Axelsen held the world number one position in men's singles for a total of 183 weeks, making it the third-longest reign in badminton history, trailing only Lee Chong Wei (398) and Lin Dan (211). He is the current recipient of the BWF Male Player of the Year award, having won the award three times since 2020.

3. Camilla Martin (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 43.32, Camilla Martin is the 3rd most famous Danish Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 17 different languages.

Camilla Martin Nygaard (née Martin; born 23 March 1974) is a retired badminton player from Denmark. She and Lene Køppen, who played two decades earlier, are the only Danish women to have won both the All England and World Championships singles titles.

4. Jens Eriksen (b. 1969)

With an HPI of 40.32, Jens Eriksen is the 4th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 15 different languages.

Jens Dyrløv Eriksen (born 30 December 1969) is a badminton player from Denmark. He competed in four consecutive Olympic Games from 1996 to 2008, and won a mixed doubles bronze medal in 2004 partnered with Mette Schjoldager. At the World Championships, Eriksen won two silvers in 1995 and 1997, and also two bronze medals in 2001 and 2006.

5. Joachim Fischer Nielsen (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 39.76, Joachim Fischer Nielsen is the 5th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 19 different languages.

Joachim Fischer Nielsen (born 23 November 1978) is a Danish retired badminton player. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, he won the bronze medal in the mixed doubles with teammate Christinna Pedersen. He retired from the international tournament in the end of 2018. Fischer Nielsen was named Badminton Denmark 2011 Player of the Year together with his partner in the mixed doubles Christinna Pedersen. He was later received Badminton Denmark's merit.

6. Kamilla Rytter Juhl (b. 1983)

With an HPI of 39.76, Kamilla Rytter Juhl is the 6th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Kamilla Rytter Juhl (born 23 November 1983) is a retired Danish badminton player. Juhl is an Olympic silver medalist, World Championship gold medalist and seven times European champion as well.

7. Christinna Pedersen (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 39.40, Christinna Pedersen is the 7th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  Her biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Christinna Pedersen (born 12 May 1986) is a Danish badminton player.

8. Kim Astrup (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 38.73, Kim Astrup is the 8th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 14 different languages.

Kim Astrup Sørensen (born 6 March 1992) is a Danish badminton player. He was the men's doubles gold medalists at the 2018 European Championships and the 2023 European Games with his partner Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. He also won the bronze medal at the World Championships in 2021 and later a silver medal in 2023. Astrup joined the Denmark winning team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China, where he and his teammates beating Indonesia 3–2 in the final. Together with Rasmussen, he reached a career high of World number 1 in December 2024. As junior player, Astrup won the bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in the boys' doubles. He later won a gold in the mixed doubles and bronze medals in the boys' doubles and team events at the 2011 European Junior Championships.

9. Anders Antonsen (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 37.96, Anders Antonsen is the 9th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 18 different languages.

Anders Antonsen (born 27 April 1997) is a Danish badminton player. He is a three-time World Championships medalist, two-time European Champion, and former World's No. 1 in BWF rankings for the men's singles discipline. He won the gold medal at the 2015 European Junior Championships in the boys singles event, and at the same year was awarded the European Young Player of the Year. Together with the national team, he won the European Men's Team Championships in 2016 and 2018; also European Mixed Team Championships in 2017, 2019, 2021 and 2023. Antonsen was the champion at the 2019 Minsk European Games, 2021 European Championships, the silver medalist at the 2017 European Championships, and the 2019 World Championships, and the bronze medalist at the 2021 and the 2023 World Championships.

10. Jan Ø. Jørgensen (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 37.73, Jan Ø. Jørgensen is the 10th most famous Danish Badminton Player.  His biography has been translated into 16 different languages.

Jan Østergaard Jørgensen (born 31 December 1987) is a Danish retired badminton player who played for SIF (Skovshoved) in the national league. He won the men's singles title at the 2014 European Championships, and was the bronze medalist at the 2015 World Championships. He joined the Denmark winning team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China.