Sport in Greenland
Sport is very popular in Greenland , even if some sports are not possible due to the climatic and geographical conditions. For this reason, winter sports such as skiing or dog sledding as well as indoor sports that are not dependent on the weather predominate . Football can therefore only be played in summer, for example.
history
The practice of sport is traditionally not part of the Inuit culture . However, the English explorer John Davis reported that his team was already playing a kind of football with Greenlandic natives in 1586 .
On September 15, 1933, the seminary teacher and later politician Augo Lynge published an article on sport in Denmark in the Atuagagdliutit . He called for the establishment of sports clubs and so the two sports clubs Aĸigssiaĸ in Nuuk and Kigssaviarssuk in Qaqortoq were founded in the same year . In 1945 there were already eleven sports clubs and in 1956 there were 32.
The first sports competition was organized by Aĸigssiaĸ and played on July 19 and 20, 1934 in the sports of soccer, running, long jump and Eqitarneq , a traditional game in which you had to pull a greasy wooden stick.
On September 3, 1953, Grønlands Idrætsforbund (GIF) was founded in Sisimiut , the umbrella association of sports clubs. The association organized a sporting event for the first time in March 1954, the ski championship in the disciplines of ski jumping , slalom , cross-country skiing and downhill skiing . In 2013, the GIF had 12,191 members, 8,824 of whom were actively involved in sports, which corresponded to 15.7% of the population.
Greenland regularly takes part in the Island Games and the Arctic Winter Games .
sports
The following sports are of greater social importance in Greenland.
badminton
Badminton has been organized in Greenland since 1973 by Badminton Kalaallit Nunaat . There have been Greenlandic senior and junior championships since 1980. Between 2000 and 2006 there was also a team championship for a short time.
Internationally, Greenland won the gold medal in the men's singles at the Island Games in 2005 and 2009 . Gold was achieved in men's doubles at the Island Games in 2013 and 2015 . There was also a gold medal in the team competition at the Island Games 2019 . At the European Championships in 2008 and 2010 , Greenlandic players competed for Denmark.
Football and futsal
The Greenland Football Association Kalaallit Arsaattartut Kattuffiat (KAK) was founded in 1971. A Greenlandic football championship had already been held eight times by the sports association and has been organized by the football association ever since. The record champion is B-67 Nuuk with 13 championships. The association has around 5500 members who play in 38 clubs.
The Greenland national football team is not a FIFA or UEFA member and has been completely inactive since 2017, as the focus was placed on futsal . The men's team was able to achieve a silver medal at the Island Games in 2013 and 2017 . The women's team also won silver in 2013, but only three teams took part. The Greenland national futsal team finished last three times at the Nordic Futsal Cup between 2016 and 2018.
Handball
Timersoqatigiit Assammik Arsaattartut Kattuffiat (TAAK) is the Greenlandic handball association . Internationally, the Greenland men's national handball team has already qualified three times for the World Cup. In 2001 , 2003 and 2007 , Greenland came in last, if not last. The Greenland women's national handball team competed once and was last in 2001 .
Dog sledding
The Avannaata Qimussersua dog sled championship has been held in Greenland every year since 1987 . As the sports association, the Kalaallit Nunaanni Qimussertartut Kattuffiat (KNQK) is responsible.
Skiing
Since 1954 the Grønland Ski Association has organized a national championship. Several Greenlanders took part in the Winter Olympic Games as skiers (see below). In addition, the international Arctic Circle Race takes place in Greenland every year , which lasts three days and covers a distance of 160 km.
Table tennis
Greenland is not too successful in table tennis . At the Island Games in 1991 , the country was able to win a gold medal for the only time that went to the women's doubles. The responsible sports association is the Greenland Table Tennis Federation (GTTF).
volleyball
In 1983 the national volleyball association Kalaallit Nunaanni Volleyball-tertartut Kattuffiat (KVK) was founded. In 1984 a national championship was held for the first time. There has also been a junior championship since 1992. An average of ten teams take part in the championship. The association has been a member of the Fédération Internationale de Volleyball and the Confédération Européenne de Volleyball since 1999 . The Greenland men's national volleyball team took bronze at the 2009 Island Games . The women's team won bronze in 2003 and 2013 . Greenland has not yet qualified for a world or European championship.
Greenland at the Olympics
As part of Denmark, Greenland is not eligible to participate in the Olympic Games under its own flag. However, several Greenlanders have so far participated in the Olympic Games under the Danish flag. With the exception of gymnast Freddy Jensen in 1952, all athletes in skiing took part in the Winter Games. So far, no Greenlander has managed to win a medal at the Olympic Games.
- Josva Frederik "Freddy" Isaias Ananias Jensen (1926–1996) took part in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki in apparatus gymnastics . In the team he reached place 8 out of 16 in 1948 and his best placement in the individual competition was place 16 out of 121 in the floor exercise in 1948.
- Apollo Ujũnguaĸ Môrtâraĸ Hans Lynge (1940-2002) was a participant in the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble . Although he was already multiple Greenlandic cross-country champion, he was only 67th out of 75 in the 15 km run and 62nd out of 66 in the 30 km run.
- Michael Binzer (* 1969) was born in Denmark, but trained and lives in Greenland. He took part in the Winter Olympics three times in cross-country skiing: 1992 in Albertville , 1994 in Lillehammer and 1998 in Nagano . His best result was 46th place out of 97 at the 10 km run in 1998.
- Arne Hardenberg (* 1973) also competed in Nagano in 1998, but in alpine skiing. Neither in the slalom, nor in the combination, he could reach the goal.
- Katrine Luise Hvidsteen (* 1977) was the third Greenlandic participant in Nagano. In the giant slalom and the alpine skiing slalom, she was also unable to reach the Zeil twice.
- Øystein Slettemark (* 1967) is a Brazilian-born Norwegian biathlete who lives in Greenland. He took part in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver , but only finished 86th of 88 in the 10 km sprint and only the last of 88 places in the 20 km run.
- Martin Troels Møller (* 1980) is also of Danish origin, but lives in Greenland. He also competed in cross-country skiing at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi . His best result was 54th place out of 86 in the sprint.
- Laila Friis-Salling (* 1985) competed in the freestyle skiing halfpipe at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , where she finished 23 out of 24.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d Sport i Grønland at katak.gl
- ↑ timerssorneĸ (sport) in the Atuagagdliutit of September 15, 1933
- ↑ De første sportsklubber at katak.gl (.pdf)
- ↑ Om GIF at gif.gl
- ↑ Official website ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. by Badminton Kalaallit Nunaat
- ↑ Official website of Kalaallir Arsaattartut Kattuffiat
- ↑ Official website of Timersoqatigiit Assammik Arsaattartut Kattuffiat
- ^ Official website of Kalaallit Nunaanni Qimussertartut Kattuffiat
- ↑ Om KVK ( Memento of the original from October 20, 2019 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on the Official Website of Kalaallit Nunaanni Volleyball-tertartut Kattuffiat
- ↑ Grønland og OL at katak.gl (.pdf)
- ↑ Freddy Jensen at sports-reference.com
- ↑ Apollo Lynge at sports-reference.com
- ↑ Michael Binzer at sports-reference.com
- ↑ Arne Hardenberg at sports-reference.com
- ↑ Katrine Hvidsteen at sports-reference.com
- ↑ Øystein Slettemark at sports-reference.com
- ↑ Martin Møller at sports-reference.com
