The Danish badminton icon, Peter Gade, has been preparing for this specific event for more than a year. Now the time has come
But is it the time to say goodbye or the time to finally prevail? The Danish all star, who has more than 20 Super Series/Grand Prix titles added to his resumé, is about to enter his fourth Olympics' tournament, a tournament in which he remarkably enough never has secured a medal.
Not many players can brag about having played in four Olympics. And although this very tournament is going to be Peter Gades last big one as a professional player, it does not take away his focus from what it still is all about. However, it is a Dane with mixed and strong emotions who enter the court this weekend:
A lot of emotions
- There's a lot of emotions. Lots of thoughts are going through my mind. It's been like this for the last year, as The Olympics is going to be my last big tournament. The last part of 2012 is going to be a sort of settling down towards the ending in December, the Dane acknowledges before continuing:
- But I feel quite good about it. I feel this is the right time, I feel that this is the last time that I need to take whatever I can from my body and my mind, and I'll try to do that in the coming week, and then that's it.
The Dane is up against Pedro Martins in his first game at the London tournament. After that he will probably face Wan Ho Shon of Korea, while an eventual quarter final most likely will be against world no. 3, Chen Long.
The life after London
It is no secret, that this tournament is what Peter Gade has been looking forward to for the last few years. However, London is not where it ends completely. There are a few months left as a professional badminton player after The Olympics, which Gade is looking forward to as well. Only in a slightly different way:
- I will play some tournaments after the Olympics, but it will be from a different mindset. It is primarily to say goodbye at some very important places for me, and finally a goodbye in December at home here in Copenhagen.
- Actually, I'm a little to scared to think about it. Right now I'm all about The Olympics and enjoying the time I'll have there, as well as the time I've had with the preparation.
The grand finale
- Then there is Denmark Open, French Open and Japan Open. Those three tournaments all mean quite a big deal to me, and I want to say goodbye there in a special way. And then there's the last one, which really is a special one. It's the most special place for me to play, right in Copenhagen, my home. It's going to be against Lin Dan, one match and that's it.
The Dane ends the interview by saying, that we will have to get back to him at that time and see how he feels about everything. He can rest assured that we will.