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Reuters

Gone are the days when badminton players could enjoy a cheeky smoke between games or quench their thirst with a fizzy drink.
The pay-off? Longer careers, bigger pay cheques and second chances their predecessors did not have after serious injuries.
Elite badminton takes a brutal toll on the body because shuttlers are constantly shifting posture and making lightning-fast movements, risking joint and tendon injuries.
From Spain’s 31-year-old Carolina Marin to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying, 30, and Denmark’s 27-year-old Anders Antonsen, experienced badminton players have a shot at World Championship and Olympic glory despite a never-ending catalogue of injuries.

Marin tore her anterior cruciate ligament after winning Rio Games gold, Tai has suffered persistent knee problems and Antonsen injured his groin last year, but all three are at the Paris Olympics.
Japan’s Kento Momota retired in part due to his injuries, but not before representing Japan in Tokyo despite a car crash that left him needing surgery on a bone near his eye.
Players, especially women, used to retire younger because they did not earn as much as they do now, said Thomas Lund, Danish Olympian, former world champion and secretary general of the sport’s world federation (BWF).
Better eating habits, training, more injury prevention and healthcare awareness are also contributing to longer careers, he added.
The mean age of the top 100 male players rose to about 26 in 2020 from around 23.5 in 1994, according to a 2021 study by authors including Spain’s Pablo Abian, who is making his fifth Olympics appearance in Paris aged 39 and is also an academic.
For women, the mean age rose to almost 25 from just under 23 over the same period.
Good results
“Older players – over 35 – are having very good results. It also comes because they have more sponsorship, more quality of materials,” said Abian, referring to resources available.
“I feel very good. I came here to fight and I feel positive I’m going to have a good time.”
At Olympic level the difference is more obvious.
When badminton became an Olympic sport at Barcelona 1992, the average age of the men’s singles medal winners was 23 but at the Tokyo Games in 2021 it was 28.

Women singles medal winners at Barcelona were 22 on average, while in Tokyo they were 25.
The top three men’s singles players – China’s Shi Yuqi, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark and Indonesia’s Jonatan Christie – are 28, 30 and 26, respectively.
Top women’s player An Se-young of South Korea is 22, but second-ranked Chen Yufei of China is 26 and third-ranked Tai 30.
“The lifespan of a (badminton) player has increased until about 33,” said U Vimal Kumar, the India men’s coach.
“In tennis, they can play at a high level until up to the age of 40. In badminton that’s not possible as the speed reflexes required come down considerably after 33-35.”


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Paris 2024 Olympic Games

Paris Olympics: why elite badminton players, like fine wine, are getting better with age

Spain’s Pablo Abian, who is making his fifth Olympics appearance in Paris aged 39, is also an academic who has written a study on players’ ages. Photo: Reuters

Spain’s Carolina Marin, 31, tore a knee ligament after winning the gold medal in Rio, but is back in Paris. Photo: AP

Chinese Taipei’s third-seeded Tai Tzu Ying is, at 30, one of the older players in the field. Photo: AP

Paris Olympics: Hong Kong’s badminton hopes lie with rare pair Tang Chun-man, Tse Ying-suet

Tse Ying-suet and Tang Chun-man at the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, where they reached the quarter-finals. Photo: Dickson Lee

Paris Olympics: Hong Kong badminton pair buck trend, vow to come out swinging at debut Games

Hong Kong women’s doubles pair Yeung Pui-lam and Yeung Nga-ting get some last minute training in before the start of the Olympics. Photo: SF&OC

Hong Kong’s players take part in a training session at the Paris Olympics badminton venue. Photo: SF&OC

Paris Olympics: what to know and who to watch during the badminton competition

Defending singles champion Chen Yu Fei (right) will face stern competition from An Se-Young of South Korea in Paris. Photo: EPA-EFE

Beiwen Zhang is the best shot at the first US badminton medal at the Olympics. Photo: EPA-EFE

Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon after winning his singles quarter-final against Korean Heo Kwang-hee in Tokyo. Photo: EPA-EFE

Danish Olympic champion Viktor Axelsen, 30, will be playing in his third Games. Photo: Xinhua

Indonesia badminton pair spied on China duo before beating them to gold at Tokyo Olympics

Indonesia’s Greysia Polii (right) and Apriyani Rahayu celebrate after defeating China’s Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan in 2021. Photo: AP

Chen Qingchen (left) and Jia Yifan are presented with their silver medals in Tokyo in 2021. Photo: Reuters

Greysia Polii (left) and Apriyani Rahayu embrace after winning the gold medal match. Photo: Xinhua

Paris Olympics: Who is Loh Kean Yew? Singapore’s new badminton sensation in hunt for medal

Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew defeated India’s Kidambi Srikanth to win the BWF World Championships in 2021. Photo: AP

Paris-bound Loh Kean Yew won the World Championships, despite spraining an ankle badly in the quarter-final. . Photo: AFP

Sport

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Paris Olympics 2024

The average ages of players at the Olympics and among the medal winners have risen considerably over the past 3 decades, for various reasons


The average ages of players at the Olympics and among the medal winners have risen considerably over the past 3 decades, for various reasons.


Badminton World Federation (BWF)