Lin Dan became the greatest badminton player ever as China made a clean sweep of the gold medals at the London Olympics on Sunday.
Dan came back from a game down to beat his great rival and friend Lee Chong Wei 15-21, 21-10 and 21-19, to successfully defend his men's singles title in a repeat of the Beijing 2008 final.
"There's only one Lin Dan in the world," Chong Wei said.
A short while later Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng clinched the men's doubles final, beating
Denmark's Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen 21-16, 21-15 to take the last remaining title for China.
But it was all about Lin Dan and his great rivalry with Chong Wei.
Lin's wizardry with the racquet reduced Chong Wei to being the greatest player yet to win an Olympic or world title.
"He's such a brilliant rival that I am quite lucky," Lin said. "I treasure the opportunities of playing him."
Chong Wei was desperate for a different kind of treasure. Under considerable pressure to deliver Malaysia's first-ever Olympic gold medal, he told his country and fans afterwards, "I'm sorry."
Of Malaysia's three silver medals, he now owns two of them as their most successful Olympian.
Lin Dan's success helped turn the attention away from the scandal that rocked the sport when China's women's doubles top seeds Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were among eight players disqualified in a match-throwing scandal.
China won the women's doubles anyway, along with the mixed doubles.
HOME
RSS