71 Facts About Lin Dan

Lin Dan is a Chinese former professional badminton player.

Lin Dan is a two-time Olympic gold medallist, five-time World champion, two-time World Cup champion, two-time Asian games gold medalist, four-time Asian Champion, as well as a six-time All England champion.

Widely regarded as the greatest badminton player of all time, by the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won the full set of all nine major titles in the badminton world of his time: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Year-end Finals, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the third player to achieve this feat after Ge Fei and Gu Jun.

Lin Dan became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic gold medal by winning in 2008 and successfully defending his title in 2012.

Lin Dan was inducted to BWF Badminton Hall of Fame on 26 May 2023.

At a young age, Lin Dan was encouraged to learn to play the piano by his parents, and to be a pianist.

Lin Dan emerged as a winner in the 2000 Asian Junior Championships in both the team and the singles events.

Lin Dan was a member of the winning Chinese team and a boys' singles semi-finalist in the 2000 World Junior Championships.

Lin Dan then entered his first final in the IBF Grand Prix event at the Denmark Open, losing to Bao Chunlai.

In 2002, Lin Dan took his first title at the Korea Open.

Lin Dan was a member of China's 2002 Thomas Cup squad which defeated Sweden, Denmark, and South Korea to reach the semi-finals.

Lin Dan participated in another four tournaments without coming close to victory.

Lin Dan was knocked out in the first round of the Singapore, and Indonesia Opens, second round of the Denmark Open, and third round of the China Open.

Lin Dan started the 2003 season with a third round defeat in the All England Open.

Lin Dan reached a final later in the year at the Japan Open but was beaten by his compatriot Xia Xuanze .

Lin Dan then made his inaugural debut in the World Championships in Birmingham, England.

However, Lin Dan ended the season strongly by capturing the Denmark, Hong Kong, and China Opens, and finishing runner-up at the German Open.

Lin Dan had a good start to 2004, earning the BWF's number one world ranking for the first time in February.

Lin Dan helped China win the qualifying round of Thomas Cup and then captured the Swiss Open.

Lin Dan won his first ever All England Open title by beating Peter Gade in the final.

Lin Dan suffered setbacks later in the 2004 season when he was ousted in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open, and was reported to have a leg injury in mid-July, prior to the Olympic Games.

Lin Dan "crashed" in his first Olympic Games when, as the first seed, he was ousted early by Singapore's Ronald Susilo, who claimed Lin Dan was "too eager to win".

However, Lin Dan bounced back with three titles at the Denmark, German, and China Opens, and ended the season as a semi-finalist at the Indonesia Open.

Lin Dan retained his number one world ranking during 2005, winning his second German and Hong Kong Open titles, as well as the Japan Open, China Masters, and World Cup tournaments.

Lin Dan helped China recapture the Sudirman Cup when it shut-out both defending champion South Korea in the semi-finals and Indonesia in the final.

Lin Dan failed to retain his All England title, losing a three set final to teammate Chen Hong, and he was beaten in the final of the Malaysia Open by another rising star, Lee Chong Wei.

Lin Dan was eliminated in the semi-finals of the Singapore Open and the quarter-finals of the China Open.

Lin Dan started the season by reaching the semi-finals of the German Open, and had a same result in China Masters and China Open.

Lin Dan recaptured the All England Open, and won the Chinese Taipei, Macau, Hong Kong, and Japan Opens.

Lin Dan entered 2007 with a loss to South Korea's Park Sung-hwan in the round of 16 at the Malaysia Open.

Later in the season Lin Dan defeated Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia and became the China Masters champion for 2007.

Lin Dan thus became the first man since Yang Yang to win back to back World Championships.

Lin Dan then won his third Denmark Open title, and ended the year by claiming his fourth Hong Kong Open title.

Lin Dan started the season with a defeat in the final of the Korea Open to Lee Hyun-il.

Lin Dan refused to apologise and received no punishment from Badminton World Federation after its probe of the altercation.

At the Asian Championships, Lin Dan was again accused of helping his compatriot when his loss to Chen Jin in the semi-finals ensured Chen's qualification for the Olympic Games.

On 10 April 2008, Lin Dan was involved in yet another controversy when he struck coach Ji Xinpeng in front of his teammates and the media during an intra-squad tournament prior to the Thomas Cup.

Lin Dan won the Thailand Open, his last tournament before the 2008 Olympic Games.

Lin Dan then beat his teammate Chen Jin in straight sets to set up a "dream" final against Lee Chong Wei.

In March, at his first tournament appearance of 2009, Lin Dan won his fourth All England title without dropping a game, defeating Lee Chong Wei in the final.

Later Lin Dan would go on to win his fourth China Masters title and first French Open title.

Lin Dan won his opening match and then beat Henri Hurskainen and Bao Chunlai in the second and third rounds respectively before being upset by Park Sung-hwan in the quarter-finals.

Lin Dan then bounced back to win the China Masters, but lost the final of the Japan Open to Lee Chong Wei the following week, and conceded walkovers in the quarter-finals of both the China Open, and Hong Kong Open late in the year.

Lin Dan was voted the most valuable player at the games' closing ceremony.

Lin Dan began the year with a withdrawal in the Malaysia Open's quarter-finals, which marked his third consecutive withdrawal since late 2010.

The very next week Lin Dan sprang back to win the first ever million dollar badminton tournament, Korea Open by beating Lee Chong Wei in the final.

Lin Dan next won the German Open, beating his compatriot and reigning world champion Chen Jin in the final.

Healthy again in August, Lin Dan won his fourth World Championship title by beating familiar rivals Peter Gade in the semi-finals and Lee Chong Wei in a very tight three game final at Wembley Arena, a venue which would host the badminton competition for 2012 Summer Olympics.

Lin Dan told officials that he was suffering from paronychia.

Lin Dan ended the year by winning three straight events, His fifth Hong Kong Open, the China Open, and his first Super Series Masters Finals title.

At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Lin Dan routinely beat Ireland's Scott Evans to qualify for the main draw of sixteen players where he started by trouncing fading star Taufik Hidayat.

Lin Dan lost the first game to Lee but came back strongly to take the second.

An ecstatic Lin Dan thus became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic title, while Lee, now almost 30, was foiled at one of the sport's two biggest events, the Olympics and the World Championships.

Amid some speculation that he was planning to retire, Lin Dan was granted a special wild card entry into the World Championships in Guangzhou, as, despite his great achievements, his recent inactivity had caused his world ranking to fall below that of other Chinese players who would then normally fill the maximum quota of three entrants that any one country was allowed.

Lin Dan won the men's singles title at the Asian Championships in China, defending his title won the previous year in South Korea.

Lin Dan then participated in the Rio Olympics test tournament the Brasil Open in the end of the year, won the title after beating Pablo Abian in the final.

At the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, Lin Dan sailed through his group round robin to qualify for the main draw.

Lin Dan was beaten in the German and Indonesian Opens respectively in round of 16.

Lin Dan lost to Chen Long in the Australian Open quarter-finals.

Later that month, Lin Dan was a member of the Chinese team which regained the Thomas Cup after four years of absence, though his team was never extended to a deciding 5th match which would have required his services in the third singles position.

Lin Dan then followed up with yet another first round exit at the Thailand Masters where he lost to Ng Ka Long.

The rivalry is often considered the greatest in the history of badminton even though Lin Dan had the decided edge.

Lin Dan has been in a relationship with Xie Xingfang, herself a former world champion, since 2003.

Xie initially denied but later acknowledged romantic involvement with Lin Dan, who reacted angrily at the public exposure of their relationship, citing reasons of personal privacy.

Lin Dan had five tattoos visible during the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Lin Dan won the Eddie Choong Player of the Year award for two consecutive years in 2006 and 2007.

Lin Dan secured the BWF Best Male Player of the Year in 2008.

Lin Dan was voted Most Valuable Player during the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

On 26 May 2023, Lin Dan was inducted into the BWF's Hall of Fame along with long-time rival, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia.

Weibo is the main social media platform which Lin Dan is using to post and update his latest status as well as communicate with his fans or friends.

In 2006, Lin Dan created a record by winning 34 matches in a row.