Hockey world championships will be held in Denmark in 2018

Denmark defeated a bid by Latvia 95-12 Friday to win the rights to host the tournament in 2018. (Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) awarded Denmark the right to host the world championships in 2018, according to a release on the IIHF website on Friday.

The tournament, currently ongoing in Belarus this year, will be held May 4-20 in Denmark.  It will be the first time the country has hosted the tourney, which will take place in the capital of Copenhagen and at a second site in Herning, a city of 86,000. The two cities defeated a bid by Latvia 95-12 on Friday. The Royal Arena in Copenhagen is currently being constructed and will open at the beginning of 2016 with a seating capacity of approximately 12,000.  

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Leading up to 2018, Prague and Ostrava (Czech Republic) will host the games in 2015; Moscow and St. Petersburg will be the host in 2016; and there will be a co-hosted event in Cologne and Paris in 2017.

Henrik Bach Nielsen, President of the Danish Ice Hockey Union who also serves as a member of the IIHF Council,  said the news means history will be made twice for Denmark, according to the report.

“It will be the first time that we will host the tournament in Denmark. It will be the biggest sport event on Danish ground. You made history twice."