Lin Dan has vowed to focus purely on badminton as he bids to get back on track and win a third consecutive Olympic title at the Rio 2016 Games. The Chinese superstar, considered by many the greatest player of all time, has had a difficult year, being knocked out of the Hong Kong Open, China Open and French Open before arriving in Rio for the Olympic test event, which finished on Sunday (29 November).

The five-time world champion was also defeated in the quarter-finals of this year’s world championships and, although he won the singles title at the test event, he has slipped from third to fourth in the world rankings during the last week. Each country may enter a maximum of two players in the Olympic singles tournament and while Lin is currently the second-best placed Chinese (Chen Long is no.1) his compatriots Tian Houwei and Wang Zhengming are on the rise, in ninth and tenth respectively. Lin must hold his rivals off until 1 May  2016, when the rakings close.

Lin Dan fever takes over Rio 2016 test event

Lin has various sponsorship agreements and even has his own underwear label, as well as doing some modelling work. However, speaking at the YONEX Brasil Open at Riocentro Pavilion 4, the Olympic venue, the 32-year-old said it was time to get serious.

“The competition (for places) in China is ferocious,” said Lin, who it is understood will fulfil only his obligatory commercial activities. “Starting with my training this winter (in the northern hemisphere) I will be working systematically. Next year, I will become totally focused on the competitions.”

Lin Dan, the David Beckham of badminton

This will be good news for badminton fans, who have dubbed Lin ‘Super Dan’ and the ‘Rock Star of Badminton’. The prospect of an Olympic badminton tournament without Lin seems unthinkable – and he does not sound like he is about to let that happen. “I love badminton and representing China is an honour for me,” he said.
 

The test event was a chance for the players to give feedback on the Olympic venue (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)

Lin beat Spain’s Pablo Abian 21-13, 21-17 in the men’s singles final on Sunday, after Shen Yaying won an all-Chinese women’s singles final against Li Yun. China completed a clean sweep, also winning the men’s, women’s and mixed doubles titles. Click here to see the full results.

Lin and some of the other players suggested it was necessary to make improvements to the air conditioning at the venue, concerned about the air-flow from vents. “It can interfere a little with the trajectory of the shuttlecock, but it would not stop us playing,” said Dutchman Jacco Arends.

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Peter Tarcala, chair of the events committee at the Badminton World Federation, stressed that the aim of the event was to test operations and identify areas for improvement, pointing out that the courts would be positioned differently for the Olympic Games.

Rio 2016 badminton competition manager Helena Gomes said: “We are very aware of this question. During two days we ran a series of tests, measuring the air currents at different heights. We will have the results next week and from this we will devise the plan for Games time.”

The players are also looking forward to seeing more fans at the Olympic Games. During this week’s competition, as is the case for many test events, entrance was restricted to invited guests. “We want to have a lot of fans watching our games next year,” said Lin. Gomes said the venue would have capacity for 5,800 spectators.