National coach leads election campaign on Funen

Under the heading "It all comes together", the national coach of the Greenlandic women's handball team is running for parliament for the Radical Left.

Jakob Larsen already has a fairly busy everyday life with handball training, traveling and matches, and is now using the remaining scarce time to participate in debates, interviews and handing out sweets and flyers to the citizens of Funen, where he is running.

– I love handball, but I love world peace even more, says Jakob Larsen, who believes that he can juggle both the roles of a parliamentary politician and a national team coach if he manages to get one of the coveted seats in the Folketing.

It was the US president's speech about annexing Greenland and the subsequent debate about secession from Denmark that got Jakob Larsen back to his seat in January 2025.

– I have always known my political stance, but have not previously been politically active. But the statements from Trump and the growing independence movement in Greenlandic politics meant that I felt I had to get involved, says Jakob Larsen, who was born in Maniitsoq and grew up in Ilulissat and Nuuk.

Supporter of the commonwealth

According to Jakob Larsen, the relationship between Greenland and Denmark is not just a historical issue, but a strategic and forward-looking responsibility that is about identity and belonging.

– I see myself as a bridge builder between Greenland and Denmark. There are 55,000 Greenlanders living in Greenland and 17,000 in Denmark. I believe that there is a need to understand the commonwealth at a time when internal and external forces are trying to create division. We must insist on perspective, calm and responsibility, says Jakob Larsen, who is concerned about the influence campaign that the US is running in Greenland against parts of the population.

– Although Trump did not mention Greenland in his latest speech to Congress, it is lurking. Trump is not finished with Greenland. He will not stop until he has his way. And I believe that we must be very aware of that threat. I get worried when I read some of the Greenlandic comments on Facebook. There is a movement going on in Greenland, and I think it could grow to more than the 24 percent of the vote that Naleraq got in the last election if we are not careful.

Both sports and politics

In Greenland, Jakob Larsen is not quite as well known as a politician as he is as a professional handball player with more than 100 matches for the Greenlandic men's national team and a great career in both Danish and foreign clubs as both player and coach.

In January of this year, he started a new chapter as national coach of the women's national team, which he will try to bring to the World Cup qualification in June 2027.

But for Jakob Larsen it is not either-or. It is both-and. Both sport and politics.

– I believe that I can both be a coach of the national team and sit in the Folketing. Sports policy has always been very important to me, and I am proud that Greenland can fight as an independent nation under its own flag. In addition, I hope to be able to bring a greater understanding of Greenlandic culture into the Folketing, where we will together look the past in the eye and cooperate on the future.