“I always try to dream big, and I always try to have the confidence that I can achieve the dream. That’s how I train, and that’s how I go onto court and do my best. That’s probably why at a relatively young age I am able to achieve a lot of things. My golden age is not here yet because I am still young. I will still have more experiences and I will still be able to show even better matches to you.” – An Se Young

“For my first Olympic gold medal, I couldn’t dare to believe that was possible. It was a strange feeling winning the (Tokyo 2020) Olympics in front of no spectators.  It shows all the hours of hard work, practice and sacrifice means more to me than the first gold medal. To do it once is crazy. To do it twice, I’m a bit in shock. I want to enjoy winning my second gold medal. I haven’t really grasped the magnitude of this. I’ve come through injuries to win Olympic gold. Even yesterday I didn’t believe I could win. Maybe I will go for another Olympics.” – Viktor Axelsen

“I don’t know why I cried, but I couldn’t hold (back) my tears. I don’t know what it means, but I could not hold it back. Maybe it’s because I had mixed feelings, too many feelings, and I’m overwhelmed. The pin I wear is from the Spanish federation of badminton because my (semifinal) opponent (Carolina Marin) had to withdraw through injury. I feel pity for her, because she is an outstanding athlete and opponent. I hoped I could carry her spirit into the final. I wish her a full recovery.” – He Bing Jiao

“Everything might not be not have gone as well as I wanted and it’s my first time here at the Olympics. I accept that Axelsen is really strong and I will try next time in the future.”  – Kunlavut Vitidsarn

“I am very proud of representing Indonesia at the Olympics, and I hope this medal will mean better things for me to come. There are a lot of people to thank for this. I can’t name them all, but, of course, my family, team, and everyone in this long journey. Thank you to everyone for their support, and I wish our climbers competing today all the best, and our other athletes who will be competing in the next few days.” – Gregoria Mariska Tunjung

“After I lost the semifinal, I wasn’t sure that I wanted this medal. My goal was only the gold medal, you know how much I wanted to prove that myself. The only medal that Malaysia is missing is gold. It feels like I was slapped by Kunlavut from a very good dream, to be honest. I was blank at that moment, I couldn’t eat well and I couldn’t sleep well after that. This morning I didn’t eat a lot as well. I was quite worried about my condition because you need a lot of energy. I didn’t have control of things in the first game or the second. It’s an unbelievable journey for me here.” – Lee Zii Jia

“I couldn’t really give my best. He started getting a good momentum and then pressure started building. It was hard to control the rallies. My hand was bleeding so it was stopped play at times, I think it’s just a bruise.  At times, the game was going on but there was blood on court and we couldn’t really continue. Then they put a plaster on (my hand) but still it was a bleeding a bit and it was disturbing on the court.” – Lakshya Sen

“This is an amazing achievement for him [Viktor Axelsen], the second time in a row as Olympic champion. It’s unbelievable. The way he mastered the match, this is something that makes us proud in Denmark, on behalf of badminton in Denmark, but also the entire country. Axelsen is a major asset. He is a fantastic ambassador, also because he learned Chinese language. He’s a pro in all of his mindset. Axelsen is also a promoter of good sport, of fair play and of an extreme ‘feel’ for his own sport.” – King Frederik X of Denmark