Lin Dan ( 林丹 )

**Justin L** · 07-22-2012, 10:23 AM

Strange and unjustifiable that Rashid Sidek should lay down the condition that Lin Dan must win a second Olympic gold to deserve the accolade of Simply The Greatest. To me,he is already The Greatest even if he wins nothing else from now onwards until such time in the future somebody surpasses him by achieving a better record.

Unquestionably, the Olympics is the most coveted,sought after and prestigious event that every athlete,the more so every nation,will want to win a medal,most of all gold. But this once-in-four-year event isn't the strongest of all and,as I've said before,do we have to wait every four years to find out who is the best? What's the world championships and other major titles,notably Superseries,for? In that case,Ji Xinpeng who won Sydney 2000 gold and nothing else equivalent should be regarded as a great player at least on par with Peter Gade and Lee CW both of whom never won Olympic gold - but I believe many will dispute that and rightly so.

I mean it's not rocket science to understand that a considerable part of the reason why it's so difficult to win double Olympic gold is the four-year interval as well as all the hype, tension of expectation and pressure. Even the annual world championship isn't necessarily that much easier to win twice in a row, what more a 1-in-4-yr event. And if you take into account how many badminton players' career last longer than 10 years on average which translates into two or three shots at the Olympics at the very most,it becomes even more precarious,isn't it?

Furthermore, badminton was only introduced as an Olympic event in Barcelona 1992, is it fair to all the past greats before then? Admittedly,the OG is one of the major events on the same level as the WC and SS/SSP in terms of overall strength, inarguably speaking,which means winning the Olympic gold alone is simply not enough to qualify for greatness;otherwise,going by Rashid's logic,it will be almost impossible for Lee CW to be a great player,let alone one of the greatest which I personally believe he already is (but this is beside the point here).

Moreover,I didnt even want to bring up unforeseen circumstances(eg injury) or extraneous factors (such as personal or family problems,political boycott) that could derail an athlete's participation or cause him to be not at his best in the Olympics - immediately,Lee CW's case comes to mind here.

IMHO,a more appropriate benchmark to measure a player's greatness is how many major titles he has won,who he has beaten, objectively speaking,and,subjectively speaking ,how he played or the manner in which he won his matches or suchlike. I stand by what I said.

As an aside,ask any professional tennis players what he/she prefers to win: more Grand Slam titles or the Olympic gold ? - at the very most, quite a few might say both, hardly any would answer it's the Olympics that is the most important. Possibly,this last assertion of mine might elicit some arguments but I'm confident the rest of what I've presented above should hold water.

**Justin L** · 07-22-2012, 10:24 AM

To add,Zhang Ning was the first and only female player to win two Olympic gold medals,so shouldn't she deserve the accolade of Simply The Greatest Women Singles Player? - going by Rashid's reasoning.

**SibugiChai** · 07-22-2012, 10:45 AM

Rashid just trying to be mourinho,,,,Mind games

**chris-ccc** · 07-22-2012, 11:16 AM

.
I think Rashid is just trying put more pressure on Lin Dan. But whether Lin Dan is affected by Rashid's comment, I would think not.

.

**repentedboy** · 07-22-2012, 12:19 PM

Well Rashid did make a valid point in some angle. This is Lin Dan's third appearance and if he wins he will silence all critics from anti-Chinese fans that he is a player beyond comparison.

If he fails to win it, then yes people can still challenge the fact that he is the greatest of all time.

**repentedboy** · 07-22-2012, 12:37 PM

Originally Posted by repentedboy

Well Rashid did make a valid point in some angle. This is Lin Dan's third appearance and if he wins he will silence all critics from anti-Chinese fans that he is a player beyond comparison.

If he fails to win it, then yes people can still challenge the fact that he is the greatest of all time.

The preceding word "arguably" or "widely" in Lin Dan's description as The Greatest Player Of All Time will be completely removed or replaced as "definitely".

Only if he wins the OG gold.

**Justin L** · 07-23-2012, 04:04 AM

Come across this article (in Mandarin) titled:- Special comment - Why Lin Dan doesn't listen to officialese(officials' words), Only plays for those who understand him.
http://sports.qq.com/a/20120722/000544.htm
(Sorry,too taxing for me to attempt a translation, maybe somebody more bi-linguistically capable may want to help).

The main point is that Lin Dan has been selected as one of the "11 London Olympics Superstars" - the only Chinese to do so - to attend the award ceremony to be presented by the British Prime Minister David Cameron who expressed his desire to seek Super Dan's advice in badminton technique. BWF President Dr Kang Young Joong wished that Lin Dan is in no hurry to retire for he still shoulders the heavy responsibility of promoting world badminton as Lin Dan's megastar status has exceeded his personal impact on the sport. (This is in para.1)

**repentedboy** · 07-23-2012, 04:12 AM

The biggest honour for a badminton player and Lin Dan has it.

Even David Cameron asked/seek his advice...

**pcll99** · 07-23-2012, 07:01 AM

LD at the airport.

**ctjcad** · 07-23-2012, 11:15 AM

what happened to his golden locks?..

**AlanY** · 07-23-2012, 11:29 AM

Originally Posted by repentedboy

The biggest honour for a badminton player and Lin Dan has it.

Even David Cameron asked/seek his advice...

do you know what david is famous for? U-turn

**bad's fan** · 07-23-2012, 11:29 AM

@justin: 11 London Olympics Superstars? how can they decide 11 superstars when the OG hasn't started yet? and what award will they receive?

@ctjcad: i prefer his hair black than golden. :P hehe

**Justin L** · 07-23-2012, 12:42 PM

Originally Posted by bad's fan

@justin: 11 London Olympics Superstars? how can they decide 11 superstars when the OG hasn't started yet? and what award will they receive?

@ctjcad: i prefer his hair black than golden. :P hehe

That's what the article says for those who can read Mandarin - Lin Dan is selected as one of the 11 awardees. I guess it's a special recognition award in acknowledgement of their contributions to sports, no mention of prize money. This should be clear based on the expressed wish of BWF President Dr Kang for Lin Dan not to retire too soon.

Me too,I prefer Lin Dan's jet-black locks to golden brown.

**bad's fan** · 07-23-2012, 01:50 PM

thanks for the info Justin. hmm, more detail info will be nice.

hehe

***cobalt*** · 07-23-2012, 02:07 PM

Lin Dan to open Olympic campaign against Evans
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-...cle3674410.ece

LONDON, July 23, 2012 AP

Excerpt:

Lin Dan of China will open the defence of his Olympic badminton title against unheralded Scott Evans of Ireland.

Top-seeded Lee Chong Wei, who lost to Lin in the Beijing Olympic final, drew Ville Lang of Finland.

Third-seeded Chen Long will meet Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand, who won the Singapore Open last month, and Chinese teammate Chen Jin, who reached the world’s top four in April to qualify for London, was placed in Lin’s half of the draw on Monday.

**V1lau** · 07-23-2012, 07:02 PM

Looks like a pretty good draw, i think the only real dangerous player is Lee Hyun Il and maybe Jan O?

**nokh88** · 07-23-2012, 09:32 PM

Originally Posted by cobalt

Lin Dan to open Olympic campaign against Evans
http://www.thehindu.com/sport/other-...cle3674410.ece

LONDON, July 23, 2012 AP

Excerpt:

Lin Dan of China will open the defence of his Olympic badminton title against unheralded Scott Evans of Ireland.

Sad. No repeat of Athens 2004.