KUALA LUMPUR: The Olympic Games men's singles badminton competition has seen a final featuring two players from the same country only once, during its debut at the 1992 Barcelona Games.
Alan Budi Kusuma edged out Ardy Wiranata for the gold, a feat never since replicated.
Even China, traditionally boasting power-packed men's singles players, has not achieved this, despite having at least one player in the final in six of the next seven editions leading up to Tokyo 2020, held in 2021.
Now, former Danish international Jim Laugesen has shared his dream of an all-Denmark final at the upcoming Paris Games, featuring the country's top two hopefuls — Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen, seeded second and fourth respectively.
Laugesen, now a pundit for TV2 Danmark, acknowledges that while the scenario of Axelsen defending his gold against Antonsen in the final seems "insane," it's not entirely unrealistic.
This possibility arises as the two Danes have been drawn in separate halves, meaning they could only meet in the final.
Laugesen's optimism is understandable, given the strong momentum both players have built leading up to the Paris Games.
Axelsen, despite early-season struggles, rebounded by winning the Malaysia Masters against Lee Zii Jia.
He then reached the semi-finals of the Singapore Open before withdrawing due to an ankle injury.
Antonsen has been in imperious form, claiming three titles, including the Malaysia Open.
He was also a finalist at the Indonesia Open last month.
"There's a long way to go before either Anders Antonsen or Viktor Axelsen can stand in an Olympic final, but they are ranked second and fourth in the world, and we know both have the level to beat any other players," said Laugesen, who was part of the Danish team that finished runners-up to Indonesia in the 1996 Thomas Cup.
"The draw means we can now dream of the completely insane scenario of having a men's singles final at the Olympics where two Danes face off. It's wild to say it and simultaneously realise it's not unrealistic."
For the record, Denmark have won the men's singles gold twice in Olympic history.
Paul Erik Hoyer Larsen, the current Badminton World Federation president, achieved this feat at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
In Paris, Axelsen will be bidding to become the first player to successfully defend the men's singles gold since China's Lin Dan.
Lin Dan achieved this remarkable feat by triumphing back-to-back in Beijing 2008 and London 2012, defeating Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei in both finals.