[Watch] Viktor Axelsen does a lap of honor after defending his men’s singles title in Paris Olympics 2024
In a viral video doing rounds on X (formerly Twitter), World No. 2 shuttler Viktor Axelsen from Denmark can be seen doing a lap of honor with his country’s flag draped around him after defending the men’s singles title in the Paris Olympics 2024.
In the men’s singles final at the Paris Olympics 2024, Axelsen steamrolled World No. 8 shuttler from Thailand Kunlavut Vitidsarn to secure his second consecutive Olympic men’s singles gold medal.
The final scoreline read 21-11, 21-11 in favor of Axelsen as he closed out the Paris Olympics 2024 badminton competition on Monday, August 5 with a lop-sided final that propelled him to a historic win.
Interestingly, Vitidsarn never looked set in the match as in the first game, the defending champion took a lead of 11 and had an impressive lead of 13 in the second to make it a one-sided affair.
After winning the gold medal, Axelsen ran around the court with the Danish flag, engaging with the fans. Interestingly, it was completely different at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when he won the gold medal in front of empty stands.
Viktor Axelsen joins Lin Dan with a new record
With this second successive Olympic gold medal, Viktor Axelsen became only the second shuttler after Lin Dan to achieve this elite feat. Lin Dan achieved this feat at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 and the London Olympics in 2012 with two successive gold medals in men's singles.
Shifting our focus to Axelsen's journey at the Paris Olympics 2024, he dominated the group standings with three consecutive wins over Nepal's Prince Dahal by 21-8, 21-6, Israel’s Misha Zilberman by 21-9, 21-11, and Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen by 21-13 and 21-10.
In the quarter-final, Viktor Axelsen locked horns with Singapore's Loh Kean Yew to win the contest quite comfortably by 21-9 and 21-17. In the semi-final, he received a tough fight from Lakshya Sen. However, Axelsen proved his dominance with a 22-20 and 21-14 win to race into the final.