Danish Badminton Star Viktor Axelsen Announces Retirement: Olympic Double Gold Medalist Succumbs to Recurrent Back Injury

Central News Agency (CNA website, April 15) — Danish badminton men's singles ace Viktor Axelsen announced his retirement, hanging up his racket. Axelsen won gold at the Tokyo Olympics and successfully defended his title at the 2024 Paris Olympics, also holding the world No. 1 ranking for a peak of 132 weeks. Axelsen emphasized that although he is officially bidding farewell to the professional arena as a badminton player today, he will continue to participate in badminton in another way.\n\n32-year-old Viktor Axelsen posted on social media today to announce his retirement, revealing that his recurrent back injury has not improved despite various treatments. Experts advised him to choose between long-term health and professional competition. Axelsen wrote, 'Accepting this reality is incredibly difficult, but my body can no longer support me to continue fighting.'\n\nAxelsen once held the world No. 1 ranking in men's singles for 132 weeks, a duration second only to Malaysian king Lee Chong Wei's 349 weeks. His two Olympic gold medals put him on par with Lin Dan for the most badminton men's singles gold medals in history. Earlier, he had already won a bronze medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics and two World Championship gold medals, and was twice selected as the BWF Male Player of the Year.\n\nSince 2021, Axelsen, in his prime, almost dominated the entire men's singles circuit, winning three consecutive BWF World Tour Finals championships between 2021 and 2023, and a total of 10 Super 1000 level event gold medals in his career.\n\nAfter winning the Olympic gold medal in 2021, Axelsen founded a training camp in Dubai, training with top men's singles players from various countries, including Loh Kean Yew, Singapore's first World Championship men's singles gold medalist, India's top player Lakshya Sen, and Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu. Taiwan's Chou Tien-chen and Wang Tzu-wei also trained in Dubai.\n\nIn the 2024 Thomas Cup men's team event, the Taiwan team faced Denmark in the quarterfinals. In the first men's singles match, Chou Tien-chen played against Axelsen, who was then the world No. 1. After a fierce battle of three games and 67 minutes, Chou Tien-chen emerged victorious, laying the foundation for Taiwan to win its first Thomas Cup medal.\n\nAxelsen stated that from the first day he picked up a racket, his dream was to become the world No. 1. For him, badminton is not just a profession but his life, and for this, he said he has given his all and has no regrets.\n\nAfter Axelsen posted his retirement announcement on social media, his past opponents on the court also sent their blessings. Indonesia's Christie wrote, 'It was an honor to play with you on the court, wishing you all the best in the next chapter of your life.' Taiwan's Wang Tzu-wei also left a message, 'Happy retirement.'\n\nViktor Axelsen (@viktoraxelsen) shared post\n\nBadminton World Federation (@bwf.official) shared post\n\n(Editor: Yang Tzu-ying) 1150415