With an approximate population of just six million, Denmark’s size has meant that in many of the world’s most popular sports – football, athletics, rugby and boxing – it has not built a star-filled résumé in historical global competitions.
But in archery, the Scandinavian nation has consistently punched above its weight.
Denmark has won 30 medals at the World Archery Championships since London 1933 – including six gold – produced four World Field Champions (junior and senior) and appeared at 10 Olympic Games.
That does not even include its record on the Hyundai Archery World Cup circuit, particularly in compound. Denmark has produced individual champions such as Martin Damsbo (2013) and Mathias Fullerton (2023), as well as four Final gold medals in the compound mixed team event during its time on the sport’s top outdoor circuit.
To have more World Cup medals than far bigger nations like France, and more World Championship podiums than China and India, is an impressive return.
And that promise on the world’s biggest stages could become even greater, thanks to a consistent pipeline that has been quietly and steadily developing.
For seven years, archery mental expert and Paralympic Champion Jens Fudge and former Denmark recurve archer Dennis Bager have led Denmark’s team for the Nordic Youth Championships.
The regional tournament is held each year in Denmark, Finland, Norway or Sweden, with under-16 to under-21 archers also travelling from the Faroe Islands and Iceland.
While Denmark’s federation operates talent centres for those aiming at elite careers, Bager and Fudge wanted something different.
“They have a structure for the Nordic Youth Championships called talent centres, but the talent centres only accept young archers who want to become elite archers,” explained Fudge. “You have to provide a certain amount of time and be very serious.
“But the thing Dennis and I wanted to do was to open it up for everyone, because the Nordic Youth Championships is much more a social event than a competition event.”
