Olympics: Decoding China's sheer dominance in mixed doubles (badminton)
Chinese badminton stars Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong clinched the gold medal in the mixed doubles event of the 2024 Paris Olympics. The duo topped Group A with comfortable wins in all three games. Siwei and Yaqiong then aced the knock-out round as well, not losing a single set in the three matches. China now has five Olympic golds in mixed doubles events.
Dominance in Paris
Siwei and Yaqiong advanced to the knock-outs with 2-0 victories over Koreans Kim Won-ho and Jeong Na-eun, France's Thom Gicquel and Delphine Delrue, and Indonesia's Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari in the group stage. They further record straight-set triumphs over compatriots Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping, and Japan's Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino in the quarter-final and semi-final, respectively.
Comprehensive win over Korea in final
Siwei and Yaqiong broke no sweat in the gold medal match against Jeong Na-eun and Kim Won-ho of Korea. They won 21-8, 21-11 to seal the top-podium finish. Notably, this was the eighth time the mixed doubles badminton event took place in the Olympics. China clinched the gold for the record fifth time.
Decoding China's other gold medals campaigns
China successfully defended their mixed doubles gold as they prevailed in the 2020 Tokyo Games as well. Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping represented them that year. The pair of Zhang Jun and Gao Ling won successive mixed doubles in 2000 and 2004. Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei won the gold for China in the 2012 London Games.
China's silver and bronze medals
China also has two mixed doubles silver as Xu Chen and Ma Jin claimed the second spot in 2012. The other silver belongs to Siwei and Yaqiong (2020). Sun Man and Liu Jianjun (1996), He Hanbin and Yu Yang (2008), and Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei (2016) brought bronze to the country in this event.
Dominance in overall medal tally
While China has 10 mixed-doubles medals at the Olympics, no other nation has even five. South Korea (twice) and Indonesia (once) are the other nations with golds. China's tally of three mixed-doubles bronze is the most for any nation. They own the joint-most silver (2).
Do you know?
The 2012 and 2020 mixed doubles events saw China claim both gold and silver medals. South Korea is the only other nation with multiple podium finishes in a single edition. They claimed gold and silver in 1996, which marked the Olympic debut of mixed doubles.
