BWF World Championships 2023: Viktor Axelsen on career journey and finding the eagerness to win
The Danish shuttler is the big favourite to reclaim his title as world champion this week on home soil in Copenhagen. He told Olympics.com about his journey to becoming the biggest star in his sport.
Badminton
Viktor Axelsen is defending Olympic badminton champion, world champion, European champion, and world number one in men's singles.
But what is the secret behind this incredible achievement? In an exclusive interview with Olympics.com at the 2023 BWF World Championships in Copenhagen, the Dane shared his view on the topic.
“I think it is the eagerness to win and being willing to always try to find a way,” Axelsen said.
“Even though I've managed to win a lot of tournaments, I've struggled throughout the matches. Where I've been really good [is] at finding a way out and be consistent in my mind, my daily trainings, and everything I do to try to perform at the highest level. I think that is the key to my performance.”
The individualist who was obsessed by winning
But where did Axelsen get this eagerness to win?
The Dane started playing badminton at the age of six in his hometown, the city of Odense in Southern Denmark. In the beginning, he was combining badminton with football, but when he turned ten, he realised that football was not for him.
“I was not a team player. I always blamed my teammates when we lost. In my world they did not want to win as much as I did. In many ways, I’m an individualist, and I found it more fun to find my own solution, as you do in badminton. It was the perfect sport for me,” he said to TV 2 Denmark.
Slowly, Axelsen started spending more and more time at the net. He went to the local badminton hall every day, as soon as the classes finished in school. On the weekend he played for five to six hours, and even at home he started playing badminton up against the wall with his dad. “Basically, I had a racket in my hand the entire day, except for when I slept,” he explained.
The Danish shuttler got more and more serious with the sport. At 15, he joined the national team training in Brøndby, and the following year he became junior world champion as the first ever European to achieve the feat.
At first, Axelsen was trying to balance high school with participating in badminton tournaments all over the world. However, on the way back from reaching the quarter-finals in Singapore Open, aged 17, he discovered that he had an oral examination in mathematics just three days later. And that exam ended up being the turning point.
“The external examiner ‘drove me over’ completely, and afterwards I told him. ‘It’s okay, you gave me a D, but the way you communicate to me, is crazy arrogant’. My teacher was looking feverishly around. At that moment, I thought; 'I really hope I make it in badminton, because I’m definitely not going to in maths,'” he continued to TV2.
Consistent on top
Eventually, Axelsen dropped out of high school and went all in on badminton. In 2012, he won his first senior major tournament medal in singles at the European Championships, claiming bronze. The same year, he was runner-up at the French Open.
Since then, the current world number one has won everything that is worth winning in men's singles. Two-time world champion, 2020 Olympic champion, and several BWF Super 1000 tournaments.
The three-time European men’s singles champion has not just reached the top of the sport, but also managed to do what is even more difficult - to stay there.
“It's hard to climb the mountain, and it's really cool on the top. Everybody is trying to surpass you. Everybody wants to beat you, and they research your game. The consistency is definitely the hardest thing,” he told Olympics.com.
“There's a lot of players who have won a few tournaments here and there, but to get up there and to keep performing in the major tournaments throughout several years is definitely the hardest thing.”
“I have room for improvement”
So, can you still get better if you are already reigning Olympic champion and world champion?
The answer is yes if you ask Axelsen, who has started his hunt to reclaim the BWF World Championships title on home soil in Copenhagen.
“I still feel like I have room for improvement in my tactical awareness and just my overall game. I think there's quite a few different shots I want to be better at, and a few things I want to mix up.”
“Of course, as you get older, you have to change your game a little bit. You cannot be as explosive and fast as you were in your twenties. I still think I can perform at the highest level, and hopefully I have many years in front of me,” concludes Axelsen.
The 2023 BWF World Championships in Copenhagen with Axelsen in action is available to stream live on Olympic Channel via Olympics.com (territorial restrictions may apply). The tournament concludes on Sunday (27 August).