Paris Olympics: Chinese Taipei’s badminton golden duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin thank fans
- ‘It’s unbelievable, the support for us,’ Wang said. ‘Whether they were here or watching us play live back home, they gave us strength’
Chinese Taipei badminton pair Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin thanked those who believed in them as they reflected on their historic repeat Olympic gold in the men’s doubles in Paris.
Lee and Wang defied the odds to defeat China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang to win the self-ruled island’s first gold of the Paris Games late on Sunday.
In their final Olympic appearance as a pair, the reigning champions edged out the world No 1s 21-17, 18-21, 21-19 in 76 minutes to become the first men’s doubles duo to defend their title.
“Our results had not been good in recent years – there were even voices suggesting we shouldn’t be representing Chinese Taipei,” 28-year-old Lee, is who is to retire, said. “But we still managed to get to the end.”
Following their golden moment in Tokyo three years ago, Lee and Wang endured a two-year slump, in which they added only a Japan Open title in 2023 as well as Asian Games bronze.
“There have been ups and downs these years,” Wang said. “Thank you for trusting us, especially my partner. There were a lot of arguments but we hung on to this day and got to the top of the podium one last time.
