Københavns Idræts Forening (abbreviated Københavns IF, KIF) is a Danish

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

club based in the

Østerbro Østerbro () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located close to present-day ...

district of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The club is based at the Østerbro Stadium and the indoor Club Danmark Hallen in

Valby Valby () is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen Municipality, Denmark. It is in the southwestern corner of Copenhagen Municipality, and has a mixture of different types of housing. This includes apartment blocks, terraced housing, area ...

. The club was founded in 1892 as ''Københavns Fodsports-Forening''—the club adopted its current name in 1914—and is Denmark's oldest athletics club. 37 members of Københavns Idræts Forening have competed at the

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

Niels Holst-Sørensen Niels Holst-Sørensen (19 December 1922 – 24 October 2023) was a Danish athlete and air force officer, and a centenarian. He served as the commander-in-chief of the Royal Danish Air Force from 1970 to 1982, and as Denmark's military representa ...

, one of the club's athletes, won a gold medal in the

400 metres The 400 metres, or 400-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field competitions. It has been featured in the athletics programme at the Summer Olympics since 1896 for men and since 1964 for women. On a standard outdoor running track, it is ...

at the

1946 European Athletics Championships The 3rd European Athletics Championships were held from 22 August to 25 August 1946 in the Bislett Stadion in Oslo, Norway. For the first time it was a combined event for men and women, and for the first time a city in Scandinavia hosted the champ ...

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

. Gunnar Nielsen another of the club's athletes was 1955 world record holder at 1500 metres with 3.40.8. By the time of its centenary in 1992, the club's members had won a total of 575 gold medals at the Danish championships—the club is second only to

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

in the number of Danish champions that it has produced.

Famous athletes

* Christian Christensen * Nick Ekelund-Arenander *

Vilhelm Gylche Vilhelm Emanuel Jakob Gylche (6 January 1888 – 18 December 1952) was a Danish track and field athlete who competed in the 1912 Summer Olympics. He is the brother of Karl Paul Kristian Gylche. He was born in Copenhagen and died in Gentofte ...

* Mogens Guldberg *

* Kai Jensen * Valther Jensen * Henrik Jørgensen *

Wilson Kipketer Wilson Kosgei Kipketer (born 12 December 1972) is a Danish former middle distance runner. With a personal best of 1:41.11, Kipketer is tied with Emmanuel Wanyonyi as the second fastest of all time over the 800 meter distance, behind David ...

* Gunnar Nielsen * Henry Petersen * Aage Rasmussen * Eugen Schmidt * Ernst Schultz * August Sørensen * Marinus Sørensen

External links

Official site
Athletics clubs in Denmark Sports clubs and teams in Copenhagen Sports clubs and teams established in 1892 1892 establishments in Denmark {{Denmark-sport-team-stub