180px|thumb|Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin are the first players from mens double to win consecutive golds in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Olympics.
Badminton is a sport contested at the Summer Olympic Games. Badminton was first held as a demonstration sport at the 1972 Summer Olympics, and was an exhibition sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics; the men's and women's singles and doubles have been held at every Summer Olympics since the 1992 Summer Olympics.[1] The mixed doubles badminton tournament started in the 1996 Summer Olympics.[2]
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings are used to determine the qualification of the players for the tournament. Nations can enter a maximum of two players each in the men's and women's singles if both are ranked in the world's top 16; otherwise, one quota place until the roster of thirty-eight players has been completed. Similar regulations also apply to the players competing in the doubles, as the NOCs (National Olympic Committees) can enter a maximum of two pairs if both are ranked in the top eight, while the remaining NOCs are entitled to one until the quota of 16 highest-ranked pairs is filled. The host nation, if it has not already qualified two competitors, receives at least either two singles players or one pair.[3]
Gao Ling is the all-time leader for the most Olympic medals in badminton, with two golds, one silver, and one bronze; Fu Haifeng (two golds, one silver), Zhang Nan, Zhao Yunlei and Kim Dong-moon (two golds, one bronze) each, Gil Young-ah and Chen Long (one each) and Lee Chong Wei (three silvers) are second for the most medals in badminton, each with three. Fu Haifeng, Gao Ling, Ge Fei, Gu Jun, Kim Dong-moon, Lin Dan, Zhang Jun, Zhang Nan, Zhang Ning and Zhao Yunlei are the all-time leaders for the most gold medal wins, with two.[4] In the 1992 Summer Olympics, future married couple Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma won Indonesia their first ever Olympic gold medals since their first Olympic participation in 1952, while brothers Jalani and Razif Sidek were the first Malaysian Olympic medalists since Malaysia first participated in the 1964 Summer Olympics.[5] Mia Audina won her first silver in the 1996 Olympics representing Indonesia, but won her second silver in the 2004 Summer Olympics with the Netherlands, the only badminton medalist to ever win for two different countries.[6] In the 2000 Summer Olympics, China swept the women's doubles tournament, winning all three medals, making it the only sweep in Olympic badminton history.[7] Indonesia also did this in the 1992 Olympics men's singles tournament, but there was no bronze medal match in that Games so the medal was shared with Danish player Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen. In the 2012 Summer Olympics, China became the first country to win all five disciplines' gold medal in history, and as of 2024 the only clean sweep in the same Games. Indonesia became the second to achieve this feat, stretching from its first gold in the 1992 women's singles to 2020 women's doubles.[8]
As of the 2024 Summer Olympics, China has been the most successful nation in badminton, winning 52 medals; 37 of them were from the women's singles and doubles and mixed doubles tournaments. Indonesia, South Korea (both 22 medals), and Malaysia (11) are the only other nations to have more than ten medals. As many as 126 medals (44 gold, 44 silver, and 48 bronze) have been awarded to 168 medalists from 13 NOCs.[9] There were four additional bronze medal winners in the 1992 Summer Olympics because no bronze medal matches were played in any of the four tournaments.[10]
| 1992 Barcelona | |||
| 1996 Atlanta | |||
| 2000 Sydney | |||
| 2004 Athens | |||
| 2008 Beijing | |||
| 2012 London | |||
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | |||
| 2020 Tokyo | |||
| 2024 Paris | |||
| 1992 Barcelona | |||
| 1996 Atlanta | |||
| 2000 Sydney | |||
| 2004 Athens | |||
| 2008 Beijing | |||
| 2012 London | |||
| 2016 Rio de Janeiro | |||
| 2020 Tokyo | |||
| 2024 Paris | |||
| Nation | class=unsortable | 72; 88 | 92 | 96 | 00 | 04 | 08 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 24 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 52 | |||
| 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | 22 | |||
| 4 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 22 | |||
| 1 | 2 | – | – | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 11 | |||
| 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |||
| – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | |||
| – | – | 1 | 1 | – | – | 1 | – | – | 3 | |||
| – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | 1 | – | 3 | |||
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 2 | 1 | 3 | |||
| – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | – | 1 | |||
| – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | – | – | 1 | |||
| – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | 1 | 1 | |||
| Total | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 136 |