ACOG - Badminton - IBM

Olympic Badminton Overview

Fans expecting a leisurely afternoon volley better not blink. Badminton, one of the newest and hottest tickets on the Olympic Programme, could be the world's fastest racket sport.

Played at lightning-speed, the sport of badminton has come a long way from its genteel beginnings as a royal lawn game. Today's fast-action indoor sport is a game requiring skill, power, endurance and finesse while smashing the shuttlecock over the net at speeds up to 320 km (200 miles) per hour. The physically demanding sport requires players to dash across every inch of the court, covering an area up to 3.2 km (4 miles) while hitting as many 400 shots across the net during a match.

The sport also has come a long way in Olympic competition. Badminton first appeared as a demonstration sport in Munich in 1972 and as an exhibition sport in Seoul in 1988, before gaining official medal status in Barcelona in 1992. The sport's enormous worldwide popularity helped make the exhibition event at the Seoul Games the first ticket to sell out in 1988, and more than 1.1 billion people viewed the 1992 Olympic final on television. The latest addition to the Olympic competition, the mixed doubles event, makes its debut here at the Centennial Games.

Although new to the Games, mixed doubles is as old as the competition itself. The All-England Championships — the unofficial world championships until 1977 — awarded mixed doubles titles in every post-war championship since 1947, while the United States included the event among its first national championships awarded in 1937. Indonesia, Korea and the People's Republic of China, the same teams that dominate the men's and women's singles and doubles events, are expected to also contend for the mixed doubles title.

To be eligible for the Games, athletes must compete in international tournaments during a specified qualification period. Players earn a world ranking based on their tournament performances and qualify for the Olympic field according to the official International Badminton Federation (IBF) computer rankings at the end of the one-year qualification period. Players or pairs ranked 1-16 in each event earn the first selections to the Olympic tournament, with additional qualifications continuing down the ranking until the field is completed. Each IBF continent must be represented and a country may not have more than three competitors in any one event. The Olympic tournament consists of 192 players, with 36 athletes in each of the men's and women's singles competitions and 40 pairs in each of the men's, women's and mixed doubles events.

In addition to the Olympic Games, the top badminton players compete in other prestigious international events including the men's Thomas Cup and women's Uber Cup (the world team championships, held every even year), the Sudirman Cup (the world mixed team championships held every odd year), the World Badminton Championships, Pan American Games, All-England Championships, U.S. Open, continental championships and various IBF Grand Prix tournaments held around the world.

With more than 14 million players in 140 countries worldwide and a place on the Olympic Programme, the sport of badminton can begin to develop Olympic legends of its own. From the sport's youngest stars like Indonesia's Mia Audina to world championship veterans like Korea's Park Joo Bong, the fast action and intriguing personalities of the game will continue to give fans something to watch for in future Olympic Games.

Just don't blink.

This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publication Department. Written by Howard Thomas.


Olympic Factoid
Closing Ceremony of the 1996 Games involved a crew of 2,100 who worked with more than 3,500 performers as well as thousands of athletes who celebrated on the field of Olympic Stadium.