Hoyer Larsen put a Danish dent in Asian pride in 1996 Atlanta Olympics
Asian men's singles and doubles shuttlers dominate Olympics
ASIAN men's singles and doubles shuttlers have dominated the Olympic programme ever since the sport made its glorious debut in Barcelona in 1992. In fact, since Barcelona, Asians have virtually bagged all the medals at stake.
Of the 38 medals given out in the last six editions of the Olympics - 1992, 1996 Atanta, 2000 Sydney, 2004 Athens, 2008 Beijing and 2012 London - Asian players snared 35 of the total medals awarded.
And of all these medals, only Denmark's Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, the present BWF president, has won a gold. He made it to the top of the podium in Atlanta.
The other five men's singles winners were Allan Budi Kusuma, Ji Xinpeng, Taufik Hidayat and Lin Dan (2008, 2012).
Besides Hoyer Larsen (Picture above), the two other non-Asian medal winners were also Danes - Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen (singles in 1992) and Matthias Boe-Carsten Mogensen (doubles in 2012).
The men's doubles has been as Asian affair right from the start, beginning with the inaugural winners Kim Moo Soo-Park Joo Bong in 1992. Rexy Mainaky-Ricky Subagja were the first of three Indonesian pairs in 1996 to win the Olympics men's doubles gold.
The other winners were Tony Gunawa-Candra Wijaya (2000), Ha Tae Kwon-Kim Dong Moon of South Korea (2004), Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan (2008) and Cai Yun-Fu Haifeng (2012).
This year in Rio, Asia's dominance is set to continue with the likes of world No.1 Lee Chong Wei, Lin Dan and Chen Long. Lin Dan, already a double Olympic winner, will be aiming for record third successive gold while Chong Wei will e aiming for his country's first-ever gold.
Related Article
World and Olympic Champions Competing at the BAMTC 2023
Job Vacancy: Chief Operating Officer
