FIRST OF BADMINTON

Olympics is an international sports meet where hundreds of countries meet and compete against each other in numerous sporting events. There are major three types of Olympics namely: Summer, Winter and Paralympics.

One of the famous sports among all is Badminton from the Summer Olympics.

On 5th June 1985 Badminton was officially introduced as a medal sports in the Olympics.
IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch delivered the news to International Badminton Federation (now Badminton World Federation) ex-president Craig Reedie, to the delight of millions who followed the sport religiously
The campaign for badminton’s inclusion in the Summer Games was initiated in 1965. It featured as a one-day demonstration sport at Munich 1972, where over 3,000 spectators watched 25 players from 11 nations battle on two courts in a volleyball hall.
The sport was deemed to have had the necessary qualities to be part of the Olympic movement – two excellent world team championships (Thomas and Uber Cups), more than hundred affiliated countries and was developing its continental championships.
After badminton joined the 1966 Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica, international tournaments increased rapidly.
It is believed the turning point came at the 1983 World Championships in Copenhagen, where China participated for the first time.

And exactly nine years later when the dream materialised in Spain, Samaranch was there again – this time to present the sport’s first Olympic gold medal to Susi Susanti.

Badminton has been part of every Olympic Games since and will feature for the eighth time next month in Tokyo, Japan.

Riju patidar
SportifyBadminton