Dane’s back-to-back gold medal win matches Lin Dan’s feat
DENMARK’s men’s singles star Viktor Axelsen cemented his prowess as one of the world’s most successful players after winning his back-to-back Olympic title, matching the feat of China’s legendary star and Olympic Games twice winner, Lin Dan. Axelsen kept his Paris 2024 record intact without dropping any games throughout his campaign, defeating Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 21-11, 21-11 in the final match to defend the gold medal he won in Tokyo three years ago. Vitidsarn, 23, stepped onto the courts as the reigning world champion’s tag on his back, but against the in-form Axelsen, the eighth seed Thai was unable to stop the Dane who was well in control throughout the 52-minute match. It was an incredible achievement by the 30-year old Dane who was the only European who managed to win a badminton medal in Paris. Despite losing, Vitisarn, however, can take pride in his achievement in Paris as the first ever Thai to win a medal in the men’s singles Olympic competition. Axelsen, who had beaten Lakshya Sen in yesterday’s semifinals, was simply a class above the rest and tonight’s performance was proof of his prowess and consistency in the sport. Vitidsarn tried hard to match the Dane by playing more rallies but Axelsen’s precision in retrieving shots left the Thai hapless. Consistency is key to Axelsen’s success in Paris, which saw him winning all his matches without dropping any games. Meanwhile, seventh seed Lee Zii Jia redeemed his loss at the hands of Vitidsarn in yesterday’s semifinals by overcoming India’s Lakshya Sen to give Malaysia its second silver medal in Paris 2024. Lee Zii Jia came back strongly from a game down to defeat the unseeded Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in a marathon 72-minute match.
