PARIS -- Viktor Axelsen is once again Olympic badminton champion.
The 30-year-old from Denmark defended his men's singles title Monday by beating Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand for the gold medal. Axelsen defeated Vitidsarn 21-11, 21-11 in the final in just 52 minutes.
Axelsen celebrated by running around the court and waving the red-and-white Danish flag over his head. Fans in the stands chanted, "Viktor! Viktor!"
Axelsen went over to a young fan and handed over his racket while receiving a constant standing ovation from the crowd.
Axelsen became the first European to win back-to-back badminton singles gold at the Olympics. Like in Tokyo three years ago, his medal in Paris is the only one earned by a European in the sport.
In other matches, South Korea's An Se-young beat He Bingjiao of China 21-13 21-16 to capture the women's singles gold medal.
Malaysia's Lee Zii Jia bagged the bronze after defeating India's Lakshya Sen, 13-21 21-16 21-11, at the Port de La Chapelle Arena in Paris on Monday.
Indonesia's Gregoria Tunjung took the women's singles bronze by default as her would-be opponent, Spain's Carolina Marin, was forced to retire midway through her women's singles semi-final against China's He on Sunday with what appeared to be a serious knee injury.
"We met in the medical centre after the matches," Tunjung said, adding that Marin congratulated her. "Carolina said her condition was very bad.
"I hope she can continue playing badminton."
An was already the women's singles world's number one player and world champion. Her presence on court has been compared to that of China's Lin Dan, widely thought to be the best men's singles badminton player of his generation as a two-time Olympic gold medallist and a five-time World champion.
On Monday, An had large bandages strapped around her right leg, which she injured at the 2023 Asian Games. She had to withdraw during the 2024 India Open in January after causing more damage.
"My injury was very difficult to overcome. At first there was a little bit of a misdiagnosis," An said, adding by the time they rediagnosed it there was very little time before the Olympics. "My coach helped me through."
"I always try to dream big and have the confidence that I can achieve that dream," An said. "My golden age is not here yet because I'm still young - I will be able to show better games to you."
The 22-year-old An powered through in Paris, however, as her controlled pacing finished off He, with the pair at one point delivering a rally that lasted nearly a minute.
The South Korea fans came to the arena in droves to chant the name of their last hope of a Paris gold medal in badminton.
The country is the sport's third-most successful at the Olympics after China and Indonesia, medalling at least once in each Games since badminton became an Olympic sport in 1992.
"When I go home, I'll go with a champagne bottle in my hand," said An.
China won five badminton medals; two silvers and three bronze. South Korea, Japan and Malaysia had two apiece.
Information from The Associated Press and Reuters was used in this report.
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