The Olympic badminton events will take place from July 27 to August 5 in Paris. A tournament where the French will be well represented, since the Tricolores are qualified in all the events, in singles as well as in doubles. Here are five good reasons to follow this spectacular sport, in the spotlight during the first week of the Games.
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Paris 2024 Olympic Games
The leading school sport in France, badminton continues to grow in France. In 2024, there will be more than 200,000 members and 2,000 clubs throughout the country, figures that continue to increase. The Paris Olympics are an opportunity to (re)discover this spectacular sport, among the fastest and most physical in the world. While the athletes involved in the Olympic tournament will compete in Paris from July 27 to August 5, it would be a shame to miss out on these events.
1 – A record French contingent
The “badistes”, as they are nicknamed, compete at the highest level in five categories: men’s singles and doubles, women’s singles and doubles, as well as mixed doubles. For the first time this year, we will find French players in each of these draws. While it seems illusory to dream of a medal in singles, a nice surprise could come from mixed doubles. The pair composed of Delphine Delrue and Thom Gicquel are reigning European champions and hover around 10th place in the world. With the support of the public, the blue duo could dream of a feat.
2 – Two brothers who put on a show
Like the Lebrun brothers, figures of French ping-pong, badminton also has a group of champions with the Popovs. Toma, the eldest of the brothers, will be lined up in singles, but also in men’s doubles with his younger brother Christo. Still young, 25 and 22 years old, they already have several French champion titles between them and are the pride of the town of Fos-sur-Mer, where they train all year long.
3 – A brand new room
While the vast majority of Olympic events take place in existing venues, the badminton tournament is being played in a superb hall built especially for the Games. French fans will discover the Arena de la Porte de la Chapelle in Paris, with its 8,000 seats. An ultra-modern hall where many Asian supporters should also flock. Among the leading nations of the world “bad”, we find China, Japan, Indonesia and South Korea.
4 – In this sport, diversity is king
Unlike many sports where women’s competitions are not widely publicized, badminton is completely mixed. It is not uncommon for some female players to enjoy greater fame than their male counterparts. India’s PV Sindhu, who has two Olympic medals to her name, is a real star in her own country: on Instagram, she has nearly 4 million followers. followers. Let’s also note that mixed doubles is one of the very rare Olympic events where men and women compete together. A very tactical discipline, as shown in the video below.
5 – The bad, ultra-fast and spectacular
Thanks to special radars, we now know that shuttlecocks hit by the biggest smashers are recorded at over 400 km/h when leaving the racket. Unsurprisingly, badminton is therefore one of the fastest sports in the world. Lightning reflexes, horizontal dives, acrobatic defenses and unstoppable feints… It is common to observe spectacular rallies during matches that last between 30 and 90 minutes among professionals. We are (very) far from beach sports here.
TD
2024-07-26 15:03:58
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