Zhao Yunlei

Zhao Yunlei
赵芸蕾
Zhao Yunlei at the 2009 East Asian Games.
Personal information
CountryChina
Born (1986-08-25) 25 August 1986 (age 38)
Yichang, China[1]
Height1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Weight61 kg (134 lb)[2]
Spouse
(m. 2018)
HandednessRight
CoachChen Qiqiu
Women's & mixed doubles
Highest ranking1 (WD with Cheng Shu, 5 November 2009)
1 (WD with Tian Qing, 20 September 2012)
1 (XD with Zhang Nan, 27 January 2011)
Medal record
Women's badminton
Representing  China
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2012 London Women's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2016 Rio de Janeiro Mixed doubles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 London Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Copenhagen Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Copenhagen Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2015 Jakarta Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2015 Jakarta Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2009 Hyderabad Women's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2011 London Women's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2010 Paris Women's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Guangzhou Women's doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Guangzhou Mixed doubles
Sudirman Cup
Gold medal – first place 2011 Qingdao Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Kuala Lumpur Mixed team
Gold medal – first place 2015 Donggguan Mixed team
Uber Cup
Gold medal – first place 2012 Wuhan Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2014 New Delhi Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2016 Kunshan Women's team
Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2010 Guangzhou Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2014 Incheon Women's team
Silver medal – second place 2010 Guangzhou Mixed doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2014 Incheon Women's doubles
Asian Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Chengdu Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Qingdao Mixed doubles
Gold medal – first place 2012 Qingdao Women's doubles
Gold medal – first place 2016 Wuhan Mixed doubles
Silver medal – second place 2007 Johor Bahru Women's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2011 Chengdu Women's doubles
Silver medal – second place 2013 Taipei Mixed doubles
Asia Team Championships
Gold medal – first place 2016 Hyderabad Women's Team
East Asian Games
Gold medal – first place 2009 Hong Kong Women's team
Gold medal – first place 2013 Tianjin Women's team
Bronze medal – third place 2009 Hong Kong Women's doubles
Asian Junior Championships
Gold medal – first place 2004 Hwacheon Girls' doubles
Gold medal – first place 2004 Hwacheon Girls' team
BWF profile
Zhao Yunlei
Traditional Chinese趙芸蕾
Simplified Chinese赵芸蕾
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinZhào Yúnlěi

Zhao Yunlei (born 25 August 1986) is a mixed and women's doubles badminton player from China. She graduated with a BA from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. She is the first and only badminton player to have ever won two gold medals in the same Olympic edition, winning in both the mixed and women's doubles categories in 2012. Zhao joins the ranks with nine other players with two Olympic gold medals, the highest number of gold medals won by any badminton player. Through her performance at the 2014 and 2015 BWF World Championships, she became the first player to win two gold medals in two consecutive BWF World Championships.

As of the 2015 BWF World Championships, she has become the most successful player in the World Championship medal count, with a total of ten medals, overtaking Gao Ling, who has a total of nine. In addition, by winning the 2015 BWF World Championships mixed doubles title, she and partner Zhang Nan have won three World Championship mixed doubles titles, the first pairing ever to have done so. Zhao had won numerous prestigious titles both in the mixed and women's doubles including the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Games, Asian Championships, and All England Open Championships, as well as the World Mixed Team Championships (Sudirman Cup), World Women's Team Championships (Uber Cup), Asian Games Women's Team gold medal, and Asia Women's Team Championships.

She is regarded by many as one of the best female doubles players in the history of badminton alongside past greats, such as former teammate Gao Ling. Zhao has achieved massive overall success in both the mixed and women's doubles, having won a total of 63 individual career titles (38 in mixed, 25 in women's doubles). Among these 63 individual titles, 42 of them are Superseries titles (27 in mixed, 15 in women's doubles), making her the third most successful player in terms of overall Superseries achievements, and the most-successful female player in this regard as well. After the 2016 Olympics, Zhao retired from international badminton competition.

Zhao Yunlei in 2013
  1. ^ "Zhao Yunlei won 2 Olympic Gold Medals in London". en.hubei.gov.cn. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  2. ^ a b Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Zhao Yunlei". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-17.