Paris 2024 badminton: Lee Zii Jia of Malaysia storms back to win bronze over India Lakshya Sen

There was no yelling or screaming, and no outburst of feeling or tears. Viktor Axelsen did a lap of honor after winning his second straight Olympic gold medal, but he couldn’t take his country’s flag from the crowd and run it.

Lee Zii Jia came back from being down a game to beat Lakshya Sen 13-21, 21-16, 21-11 in the badminton event at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on Monday, August 5. It was his first medal at the Games, and it meant a lot to him.

Lee said, “To be honest, after I lost the game yesterday, I wasn’t sure if I wanted this medal or not because my goal is only the gold medal.” He was speaking to his loss in the semi-finals to Kunlavut Vitidsarn of Thailand the day before.

“We have a lot of silver and bronze, but only one gold.” I honestly felt like Kunlavut had just slapped me out of a very good dream after the loss, and I had no idea what to think at that point.

“I couldn’t eat well, I couldn’t sleep well after that, and I didn’t eat much this morning either.” Because we need a lot of energy to be here, I was worried about my health. When it came to the game, I lost control in both the first and second sets.

There was still a good chance for Lakshya to win, but I found a way to beat her and win the game. This trip is really hard for me to believe.