Viktor Axelsen (born 4 January 1994) is a Danish badminton player. He is a two-time Olympic Champion, two-time World Champion, and four-time European Champion. He has held the No. 1 BWF World Ranking in men's singles for a total of 183 weeks (as of August 2024), and he is the current world No. 2.[2] Throughout his career, Axelsen has won every single major title in both team and individual events at least once (World Tour Super 1000 level or higher), except for Sudirman Cup (where his team won Bronze in 2013).[3] Known for his powerful smashes and solid defence, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest badminton players of all time.[4][5][6][7]
Axelsen won the World Championships in 2017 and 2022, becoming the only non-Asian male player besides Thomas Lund to win the title twice. He is also the back-to-back reigning Olympic Champion, winning the gold medals in men's singles at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2024 Paris Olympics after his bronze medal in 2016 Rio Olympics, thereby becoming the most successful badminton men’s singles player in Olympic history.[8][9]
Axelsen has led Denmark team to win all European Mixed Team Championships since 2015 and all European Men's Team Championships since 2012. On individual levels, he won three European Championships titles in 2016, 2018, and 2022, and a gold medal at the European Games in 2023.[10] He also won the 2010 World Junior Championships, becoming the only non-Asian singles player to win the title.[11] Axelsen held the world number one position in men's singles for a total of 183 weeks, making it the third-longest reign in badminton history, trailing only Lee Chong Wei (398) and Lin Dan (211). He was the recipient of the BWF Male Player of the Year award twice between 2020 and 2022.[12]
- ^ "Tokyo 2020 Olympic badminton champion Axelsen celebrates in Dubai". Gulf News. 17 August 2021. Archived from the original on 14 September 2021. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ "Viktor Axelsen | Profile". Badminton World Federation. Retrieved 31 August 2023.
- ^ "Viktor Axelsen by numbers: Records, titles, medals and stats of the Danish badminton star". olympics.com. 11 September 2023. Retrieved 6 October 2024.
- ^ "Axelsen retains badminton Olympic title to be among the greatest". english.news.cn. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Into the League of Legends". bwfbadminton.com. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "'King' Axelsen emulates Lin Dan in retaining Olympic badminton crown". france24.com. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Viktory! Axelsen enters legend with consecutive badminton golds for Denmark". rfi.fr. 6 August 2024. Retrieved 6 August 2024.
- ^ "Tokyo 2020 Men's Singles Results - Olympic badminton". Tokyo 2020 Olympics. 2 August 2021. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ "VITIDSARN Kunlavut vs AXELSEN Viktor - Men's Singles Gold Medal Match Match MS161 - Badminton". Paris 2024 Olympics. 5 August 2024. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
- ^ Leer Scharnberg, Martin (30 April 2022). "Axelsen vinder EM i rendyrket dansk finale" [Axelsen wins the EC in a purely Danish final] (in Danish). DR. Retrieved 15 July 2022.
- ^ Sachetat, Raphaël (25 April 2010). "World Juniors – Axelsen creates history". Badzine. Retrieved 5 August 2018.
- ^ "Axelsen, Zheng and Huang Rewarded For Stellar Seasons". Badminton World Federation. 5 December 2022. Retrieved 14 January 2023.