Fu Haifeng

Cai Yun (at the front) and Fu Haifeng (at the back) won the silver medal at Beijing 2008, the gold medal at London 2012, four World Championships titles (2006, 2009 to 2011), five consecutive Thomas Cups (2004 to 2012), and six consecutive Sudirman Cups (2005 to 2015, an all-time record) with the Chinese team, making them one of the most successful men’s doubles pairs in badminton history.

After the 2013 World Championships, the Chinese national team decided to split the pair and partner each of them with a younger player, thinking that Cai would be too old for Rio 2016. Fu and his new partner, Zhang Nan, did not win many titles, but captured the most important one: the Olympic title at Rio de Janeiro 2016. This made Fu the second most successful badminton player in Olympic history, trailing Gao Ling by just one bronze medal.

Cai and Fu were inducted into the BWF Hall of Fame together in 2021.