ODENSE: How great can Viktor Axelsen of Denmark be?
It’s a question that the great Dane has asked himself and providen an answer to in his book called “The Mind of a Champion” which he wrote in collaboration with Nikolaj Albrectsen.
For a man who has won everything, including two Olympic Games singles titles, two world titles, and every major tournament on the World Tour, it’s not easy to keep achieving greatness.
But Axelsen believes he has more to offer.
In the book, which was launched this year, Axelsen said he was striving to reach his full potential.
“I have changed my way of thinking. Titles and medals are no longer my main motivation driver,” the world No. 2 stated in the book.
“I am striving to reach my full potential. Asking myself: How great can I become?
“This means that I constantly evaluate my journey I am on, as well as my entire life as an athlete.
“I use every opportunity and spend most of my waking hours investigating how to move beyond my limits and become even better. That is what constantly keeps me moving forward.
“Having a different mindset, has improved my game substantially and it is what made it possible to win.”
Axelsen however was quick to point out that one shoe does not fit all.
“I’m not offering a ready-made recipe or models which can be found in other books on motivation and personal development, you should dare to do things your own way.”
The other topics that he covered in his book includes “never let the opinion of others stop you”, “if you follow others, you will end up where they are”, “be brutally honest in your self-assessment”, and “never give up, even if things don’t go as planned” among others.
On Tuesday, the home star and 2021 Denmark Open champion got off to a blistering start by beating Yushi Takana of Japan 21-13, 21-13 in Odense to set up a mouth-watering clash against rising star Alex Lanier of France in today’s second round.
