How Olympic badminton star got his mojo back and hit the gym in quest for Games swan song
- South Korean Lee Yong-dae, a gold medallist at 2008 Games and a former world No 1, retired with burnout in 2016 – but now he’s back
- The 30-year-old tells us about being a gym rat and using visualisation to defeat opponents as he seeks more Olympic glory
After the 2016 Rio Olympics, South Korean badminton player Lee Yong-dae announced his official retirement. He had played at the highest level of the sport, reached the world No. 1 ranking and won an Olympic gold medal in mixed doubles with Lee Hyo-jung at the 2008 Beijing games.
Asked if his retirement had anything to do with the death of his doubles partner Jung Jae-sung, 35, from a heart attack earlier this year, Lee said his curtain call was due to burnout. The pair won bronze in the men’s doubles at the 2012 London Olympics.
“It was not a sudden decision. Actually I was preparing to retire after the Rio Olympics because I’ve been playing for the Korean national team for a really long time and I was tired both physically and mentally,” he says. “I wanted to take a rest.”
Today, though, with his batteries fully recharged the 30-year-old is back playing again with doubles partner Kim Gi-jung, also from South Korea.
Lee was speaking at the Olympian City 2 shopping centre in Hong Kong’s West Kowloon neighbourhood, where he attended HSBC Life’s City Badminton event this month. He returns to the sport with a renewed sense of enthusiasm, although the player admits it has been a steep climb to get back to the elite level again.
