Badminton at the 1996 Summer Olympics

There were several changes to the program and format for 1996. First of all, there was a fifth event added, the mixed doubles. Secondly, in 1992, both losing semi-finalists received bronze medals, but beginning in 1996, and ever since, the semi losers have played a deciding bronze medal match. The tournament continued as a single-elimination tournament with all matches played as best of three games, all games played to 15, except for women’s singles, who played games to 11. Finally, the single-elimination events saw seeded teams advanced directly into the second rounds except in mixed doubles.