The most dominant Badminton playing countries in the Olympic Games
In the world of Badminton, the nations of China, South Korea and Indonesia have proven their superiority in the Olympic Games.
Among these three countries, China has grabbed the top position in the table by winning 11 gold medals. South Korea and Indonesia have won 6 gold medals each. One gold medal was won by Denmark. Indonesia is the only country that has won a gold medal in all
the Olympics since 1992.
Badminton received the status of an Olympic sport for the first time in the 1992 Olympic Games. Initially, four categories were introduced in the competition, including Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles and Women’s Doubles.
In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Indonesia and South Korea won two gold medals each. In the category of the Men’s Singles, Indonesia’s Alan Budikusuma won the title by defeating his team-mate Ardy Wiranata. Indonesia also won the gold in the Women’s Singles,
as well when Indonesian shuttler Susi Susanti emerged as the winner against Bang Soo Hyun of South Korea. However, in the Men’s and Women’s Doubles categories, the South Korean pairs proved their supremacy and clinched two gold medals. China went home with
four bronze and one silver medal.
During the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, the category of Mixed Doubles was also included in the event. This time South Korea dominated the table of medals by winning two gold medals in the Women’s Singles and Mixed Doubles categories. China, Indonesia and Denmark
won one gold medal each. In this event, Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen of Denmark became the first and only Danish player to win the gold medal in the Olympic Games.
In the 2000 Sydney Olympics, it was the Chinese shuttlers that won four gold medals, proving that they had improved their level of play. However, Indonesia managed to win the remaining gold medal in the Men’s Doubles category. China’s Ji Xinpeng, Gong Zhichao,
Ge Fei-Gu Jun and Zhang Jun-Gao Ling were the title winners.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, China again proved their supremacy in Badminton by winning three gold medals in the Women’s Singles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles categories. The Men’s Singles title was occupied by Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia. In the Men’s
Doubles, Korea’s pair Kim Dong Moon-Ha Tae Kwon grabbed the gold medal.
In the Women’s Singles, Zhang Ning from China won the title by beating Mia Audina of the Netherlands. In the Women’s Doubles, Zhang Jiewen-Yang Wei emerged victorious. However, Gao Ling who lost her Women’s Doubles final to her team-mates, won the title
of Mixed Doubles with his partner Zhang Jun against the British pair of Nathan Robertson - Gail Emms.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, China continued their tremendous run in by winning three gold medals. Indonesia and South Korea also grabbed one gold medal each. In the Men’s Singles category, it was the crouching tiger, Lin Dan from China who outclassed
his Malaysian opponent Lee Chong Wei and won the gold medal. The Indonesian pair of Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan proved their skills in the final of the Men’s Doubles against Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng of China and won the title.
In the Women’s Singles, Zhang Ning defended her title successfully by beating her younger compatriot, Xie Xingfang in the title match. In the Women’s Doubles category, China’s Du Jing-Yu Yang proved their superiority against the Korean pair of Lee Kyung
Won-Lee Hyo Jung for the title. However, Korea won the gold medal in the Mixed Doubles category, as Lee Yong Dae-Lee Hyo Jung became the title holders by beating the Indonesian pair of Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir.
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