Oscar Nielsen

Oscar Nielsen-Nørland was – together with Charles Buchwald one of only two Danish football players who competed in the 1906 Intercalated Games as well as in the 1908 and 1912 Olympic Games winning gold (in 1906) and silver (in 1908 and 1912). They are two of only three men, thru 2024, with three Olympic football medals, along with Dezső Novák (HUN/1960-68), although the IOC does not recognize the 1906 medals. Known as Oscar Nielsen until 1914, he played right wing for Københavns Boldklub (KB) in 133 matches in the period from 1898-1918. With his club, he won the Danish championship in 1914, 1917 and 1918.

Nielsen represented the unofficial Danish national team consisting of players only from Københavns Boldspil-Union (Copenhagen Football Union, KBU) at the 1906 Intercalated Games at Athens. Denmark won the tournament easily against local Greek teams. After two hands-down victories against the two French teams at the 1908 Olympic Games in London, Denmark lost 2-0 to Great Britain (England) in the final and won silver. Nielsen played in the games against France’s B-team and in the final. At the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm, Denmark had a bye in round one and defeated Norway and the Netherlands convincingly to reach the final. Here they lost 4-2 to Great Britain (England), winning Olympic silver. Nielsen played in the semi-final and the final for the Danish team. In total, he played 15 international matches from 1908-20 scoring 7 goals and leading the team in 10 matches as captain. The last of his 14 international matches was a friendly in 1916 against Norway. Nielsen never scored for the national team despite being a forward.

In addition to football, Nielsen was also an excellent track and field athlete winning four medals at the Danish Championships: gold in 1909 (440 y) and 1910 (400 m) and silver in 1908 (440 y) and 1910 (4x100 m relay).

Oscar Nielsen worked as a traffic controller and organised the trip of the Danish team to Athens in 1906. In February 1914, he married Julÿette Frederikke Jenny Fischer and changed his name to Nørland a few days later.