[3] Denmark returned home from Rio de Janeiro with 15 medals (2 golds, 6 silver, and 7 bronze), marking the country's most successful outcome in Summer Olympic history since 1948.
[4][5] Three of these medals were awarded to the Danish squad in cycling, two in badminton, rowing, sailing, and swimming, and one each in sprint kayaking, track and field, and Greco-Roman wrestling.
These Games also witnessed a historic moment for the male Danes in collective sports, as they overcame the two-time defending French champions 28–26 to win their first ever gold medal in the men's handball tournament.
[6][7] Among the nation's medalists were badminton tandem Kamilla Rytter Juhl and Christinna Pedersen in the women's doubles, rower Morten Jørgensen, who completed a full set of medals at his third Games with a silver in the men's lightweight fours, hurdler Sara Slott Petersen, who made history by becoming the first Danish woman to ascend the podium in any track event,[8] and Greco-Roman wrestler and three-time Olympian Mark Madsen, who brought home the country's first ever medal in his signature sport after more than eight decades.
Two Danish athletes collected more than a single medal at these Games, including track cyclist Lasse Norman Hansen, who won a bronze each in both men's team pursuit and omnium, and swimmer Pernille Blume, who outlasted the favorites in the women's 50 m freestyle to hand her country's first Olympic swimming title since 1948.
[9] Additionally, Blume helped the Danish foursome of backstroker Mie Nielsen, breaststroker and world-record holder Rikke Møller Pedersen, and butterfly sprinter and four-time Olympian Jeanette Ottesen beat the European record for the bronze medal in the women's medley relay final.
Rifle prone marksman and 2000 silver medalist Torben Grimmel headed the full roster of experienced Danish athletes by competing at his fifth consecutive Games.
Former top-ranked tennis player Caroline Wozniacki was selected by the committee to carry the Danish flag at the opening ceremony, the first by a female since 1988 and third overall in Summer Olympic history.
The track cycling squad, highlighted by reigning Olympic champion Lasse Norman Hansen in the men's omnium, was named on 18 June 2016.
Final team was named on 17 July, after several observation events which included FEI Nations Cup competitions in Odense and Aachen as well as the Danish Dressage Championships in Broholm.
[42] Team Denmark will determine the official list of sailors with the highest overall series score having accumulated in three selection trial meets of each fleet.
[43] On 4 March 2016, four sailors had been selected to the Danish Olympic team for Rio: skiff duo Jena Mai Hansen and Katja Salskov-Iversen (49erFX), and multihull tandem Anette Viborg Andreasen and 2012 Olympian Allan Nørregaard (Nacra 17).
[44] Single-handed sailors Michael Hansen (Laser) and 2012 Finn silver medalist Jonas Høgh Christensen had claimed their Olympic spots at the Princess Sofia Trophy Regatta, while the remaining crews rounded out the selection at the ISAF World Cup meet in Hyeres, France.
Jonathan Groth secured one of the remaining Olympic spots in the men's singles by winning the repechage group final at the European Qualification Tournament in Halmstad, Sweden.