At Athens 2004, Lin Dan was the first seed but lost in the first round. Rather than being defeated by doubts and ridicule, he responded by creating an era of his own. He holds so many badminton records that the list is almost a record in itself. Among them, the most important ones are: a record-tying two Olympic gold medals (2008, 2012); a record-tying five World Championship titles (2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013); a record six Thomas Cup titles (2004, 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2018); the first player to win three consecutive World Championship titles. He also won five Sudirman Cups (2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2015) with the Chinese team.
Lin Dan and Lee Chong Wei are widely regarded as the greatest rivalry in badminton history. They faced each other 41 times, with Lin winning 29 of those encounters, including both Olympic finals and both World Championship finals they contested. Lin was inducted into the BWF Hall of Fame in 2023, together with Lee Chong Wei.
People's Republic of China