{"id":632,"date":"2012-08-14T13:52:26","date_gmt":"2012-08-14T13:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/?p=632"},"modified":"2012-08-14T13:55:00","modified_gmt":"2012-08-14T13:55:00","slug":"denmark-at-the-2012-olympics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/2012\/08\/14\/denmark-at-the-2012-olympics\/","title":{"rendered":"Denmark at the 2012 Olympics"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Olympic<\/a>A tiny nation obsessed with hygge<\/a><\/strong> (having a good time in cosy surroundings, like when you\u2019re sharing a birthday lagkage<\/strong>, layered cake, with your family), Denmark is rarely associated with athleticism. Wrote poet Piet Hein in 1950:<\/p>\n

Den slankekur en dansker gerne tager \/ i h\u00e5bet om at blive let og mager \/ er s\u00f8ndagsturen til kvarterets bager \/ samt turen hjem igen med fl\u00f8dekager.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The reducing treatment preferred by a Dane \/ hoping to become light and lean \/ is the Sunday stroll to the local baker<\/a> \/ and the stroll back home again with creamy cakes.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Caroline<\/a>

Caroline Wozniacki<\/p><\/div>Yet in the recent OL<\/strong> [oh-el] (short for Olympiske Lege<\/strong>, \u2019Olympic Games\u2019) in London, Denmark quietly brought home 9 medaljer<\/strong>: 2 guld<\/strong>, 4 s\u00f8lv<\/strong> and 3 bronze<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The two gold medals were won by the cyclist Lasse Norman Hansen<\/strong> and by the rowers Rasmus Quist<\/strong> and Mads Rasmussen<\/strong>, who thus helped highlighting Denmark as a nation of bicycling<\/a> (in the flat, windswept landscapes) and boating (along the country\u2019s numerous beaches). The silver and bronze medals were gathered in the fields of shooting, rowing, sailing and badminton.<\/p>\n

One of the biggest names in Danish sports, the tennis player Caroline Wozniacki<\/strong>, did not manage to live up to the enormous forventninger<\/strong> (expectations) of the Danish media: On August 2nd, the young star\u00a0was beaten by the American Serena Williams in the kvartfinale<\/strong> (quarter-final).<\/p>\n

Another skuffelse<\/strong> (disappointment) was the Danish male h\u00e5ndbold<\/a><\/strong> team. Master coach Ulrik Wilbek and his \u201ddream team\u201d \u2013 which includes the current \u201dworld\u2019s best handball player<\/em>\u201d, Mikkel Hansen<\/strong> \u2013 seemed to have forgotten the fun of the game as they were outplayed by their archenemies from Sweden on August 9th, also in the quarter-final.<\/p>\n

Notwithstanding the two setbacks, London 2012 might be Denmark\u2019s biggest Olympic triumph ever. According to the newspaper Politiken<\/a>, it\u2019s the first time Denmark has gained more Olympic medals than its Scandinavian friends-and-rivals Norway and Sweden. Now, let\u2019s prepare for Rio 2016\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\"\"

A tiny nation obsessed with hygge (having a good time in cosy surroundings, like when you\u2019re sharing a birthday lagkage, layered cake, with your family), Denmark is rarely associated with athleticism. Wrote poet Piet Hein in 1950: Den slankekur en dansker gerne tager \/ i h\u00e5bet om at blive let og mager \/ er s\u00f8ndagsturen…<\/p>\n

Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":76,"featured_media":2128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[237994,237990,237991,3281,237988,2360,237995,237993,229588,237989],"class_list":["post-632","post","type-post","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bicycling","tag-caroline-wozniacki","tag-handball","tag-london","tag-mikkel-hansen","tag-olympics","tag-piet-hein","tag-rowing","tag-tennis","tag-ulrik-wilbek"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t