Badminton – Summer Games 2024
Badminton was first played at the Games Games in 1972 as a demonstration sport. Twenty years later, this indoor racket sport was added to the official program for the Barcelona 1992 Games. In the new setting of the Porte de La Chapelle Arena, the best players in the world will compete in five events: men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles. The road to the five Summer Games titles will start with a Preliminary group phase before the final knockout phases. More than 200 matches are scheduled.
Schedule
Records
Most Gold Medals (Individual - Men):
Lin Dan from China holds the record for the most gold medals in the men's singles category, having won gold in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Summer Games.
Most Gold Medals (Individual - Women):
Zhang Ning from China has the most gold medals in the women's singles category, winning gold in the 2004 Athens and 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
Most Gold Medals (Doubles - Men):
Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja of Indonesia, and Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China, share the record for the most gold medals in the men's doubles category, each winning in consecutive Games. Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja won in 1996 Atlanta and Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng won in 2008 Beijing.
Most Gold Medals (Doubles - Women):
Both Gao Ling (with Huang Sui in 2000 and with Zhang Jun in 2004) and Zhao Yunlei (with Tian Qing in 2012 and with Zhang Nan in 2016) have two gold medals each in the women's doubles category.
Most Gold Medals (Mixed Doubles):
Gao Ling and Zhang Jun of China hold the record for the most gold medals in the mixed doubles category, winning in both 2000 Sydney and 2004 Athens.
Youngest Gold Medalist:
Yang Yang from China is the youngest badminton player to win a gold medal. She achieved this feat at the age of 18 in the women's singles category at the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Games.
Did you know that..
Badminton in the Games uses a rally-point scoring system, where a point is scored on every serve, regardless of which side wins the rally. This is different from traditional badminton scoring used in some other tournaments.
Badminton players are known for their powerful smashes. Fu Haifeng of China holds the record for the fastest recorded smash in professional badminton, clocking in at an impressive speed of 332 km/h (206 mph).
Badminton made its Games debut as a demonstration sport in the 1972 Munich Summer Games. It became an official Games sport at the Barcelona Games in 1992, featuring both men's and women's singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles events.
The shuttlecock, or birdie, used in badminton is a crucial element of the game. It typically has 16 feathers fixed in a cork base. The feathers come from the left wing of a goose and are chosen for their specific aerodynamic properties to ensure stability and accuracy during play.
Badminton is the only Games sport where the net is set lower for women's competitions than for men's. The net height for men is 1.55 meters, while for women, it's set at 1.52 meters. This slight difference is to account for the generally shorter average height of women players.