Olympic Review: Badminton

This series of posts will have a look at each of the 29 Olympic and Paralympic coins, review their design and then review Team GB's involvement and performance in the sport.

First up, Badminton.

Personally, this is my favourite design of the 29. It was designed by Emma Kelly, who is an illustrator from London. The combination of the giant detailed shuttlecock and the miniature figures in different poses works well in both the official image above and the coin itself. When you see it in your change it is instantly recognisable, and at the same time reveals some more detail when you take a closer look.

I also like it because I like to play Badminton myself, so I may be a little biased!

In the results, China dominated the medal table, winning at least gold in all 5 events. Unfortunately Team GB did not manage to get through the first round for any of the 3 events we entered: Men's Singles, Women's Singles and Mixed Doubles.

Susan Egelstaff in the Women's Singles event put up a particularly strong fight, quite convincingly winning her first match in the group stage 2-0 and the first game of her second match. The Japanese Sayaka Sato was just too good, however, and won the match, knocking Egelstaff off the top spot in the group and out of the competition.