This time, it was Axelsen who had the last laugh - the Danish player defeated Chen Long 2-0 in the final and won the Tokyo Olympics badminton men's singles gold medal. The first confrontation between Chen Long and Axelsen was at the China Masters in December 2012. At that time, C

The Paper trainee reporter Hu Jie

Axelsen cried with excitement after the game.

Olympic finals, Chen Long versus Axelsen, two old rivals competing for a spot in the finals of the Rio Olympics met again.

This time, it was Axelsen who had the last laugh - the 27-year-old Danish player defeated veteran Chen Long 2-0 (21-15, 21-12) in the final and won the Tokyo Olympics badminton men's singles gold medal.

So far, Guoyu Tokyo Olympics ended with 2 gold medals and 4 silver medals.

Chen Long in the competition.

Old rival and old friend

The first confrontation between Chen Long and Axelsen was at the China Masters in December 2012. At that time, Chen Long lost the first game 20-22 and won 21-7, 21-21. 18 came back to win. In

's subsequent career, the two played against each other 19 times, with Chen Long winning 14 and losing 5. Although Chen Long has the advantage in the overall record, since 2018, the two have played against each other 6 times in three years, with 3 wins and 3 losses.

Chen Long and Axelsen exchange jerseys.

Previously, Chen Long praised Axelsen, "Axelsen is in very good condition and has been very relaxed along the way. I will go all out to face the final and show my best side as much as possible without leaving any regrets."

Compared with Chen Long's reservation, Axelsen hopes to realize his dream.

Axelsen, who had ankle surgery in 2020, has had an explosive start in 2021 - he participated in 32 games before the Olympics and won 4 championships.

Axelsen, who is in good condition, hopes to realize his dream of Tokyo. "I have a bronze medal at home, and I want to change it to a more interesting color. This is my dream and my goal."

calmed down and said Changed

won Jinting 2-0 in the semi-finals, and Chen Long was only one final away from defending the championship.

Among the 87 male athletes and 86 female athletes in this Olympics, Chen Long is the only defending champion. But from the beginning of the game, Chen Long didn’t seem to be the first choice for the men’s singles championship.

After all, as the sixth seed in men's singles at the Tokyo Olympics, Chen Long is really not a favorite to win - after completing the Grand Slam at the Rio Olympics, his performance throughout the Tokyo Olympics cycle was slightly sluggish.

Axelsen hugs the coach.

In the three World Championships from 2017 to 2019, he stopped in the top eight twice and stopped in the semi-finals once. In addition, the number of open championships in each season is fixed at one. Therefore, defeating the second seed and Zhou Tiancheng in the quarter-finals to advance to the finals was his best performance in recent years.

faced Jin Ting, who had 4 wins and 8 losses in the semi-finals, but Chen Long won quite smoothly. When we won the first game, the coach said on the side: "You must be fully prepared for difficulties and you must be able to bear it..."

Before the coach could finish speaking, Chen Long answered, " He will definitely play harder and there will be a chance if he slows down a bit." The coach could only say "yes" repeatedly.

Obviously, Chen Long, who has experienced three Olympic Games, has a better grasp of the game.

When talking about the game, Chen Long showed no expression behind his mask. "There is no retreat, and there is nothing to hesitate. We just need to resolutely implement the tactics."

Axelsen during the game.

"It turns out that I can change too"

At the 2019 World Championships in Basel, Switzerland, third seed Chen Long was knocked down by Danish teenager Antonsen . The national feather team missed the men's singles medal for the first time in 24 years.

also failed this time, which became a new turning point for Chen Long. "Over the years, I have been winning games with what I am most accustomed to, but after the Rio Olympics, I was constantly impacted, and I realized that I needed to make changes."

Chen Long's changes came from Li Mao21 years later Returning to the Chinese badminton team , his main task is to guide Chen Long.

Who is Li Mao? He had signed a two-year contract with the Malaysian team after the Athens Olympics. During this period, the originally unknown and Lee Chong Wei were brought to the number one position in the world.

The series of training concepts brought by Li Mao partially subverted Chen Long's inherent model - "I may have always been relatively stable in my memory, but he always told me to grab, be fast, attack, and always give I instill this awareness."

Even Chen Long sometimes has some doubts, "Does it feel faster after just one fight?"

With some doubts, Chen Long went on international tours. Competition - a total of three intermediate and senior open tournaments in two months. Chen Long achieved a record of 12 wins and 2 losses and won his first open championship.

"It turns out that I can also change." Chen Long was a little surprised when he saw the changes in himself. "The better games he played were based on his philosophy: fast, grab, and attack."

It's a pity. Facing Axelsen who was in great form, the 32-year-old Chen Long was still defeated...

Editor in charge: Teng Fei

Proofreader: Xu Yijia