🏸 Datuk Lee Chong Wei - The Champion & National Hero in Malaysian Sports

:badminton: Lee Chong Wei (born 21 October 1982) is a retired Malaysian professional badminton player whose commendable performances in the game for many years have earned him the title ‘Dato’ and the status of a national hero.

:malaysia: He is the 3rd Malaysian player to be ranked No.1 for 199 consecutive weeks across the globe and the only Malaysian shuttler to remain in the ‘number one’ slot for over a year.

:2nd_place_medal: Lee is a triple silver Olympian medalist. He won his first silver medal in 2008 Beijing Olympics and then at the London 2012 and finally in 2016 Rio Olympics making him the most successful Malaysian Olympian in history.

  • Throughout his career, he has won several gold medals, including the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne and the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi.

  • He won the prestigious Yonex All England Open titles in 2010 and 2011 in a row while in 2014 he won his tenth Malaysia Open title.

  • In 2010, he secured his first treble in the Super Series titles, his first ever Korea Open crown, his sixth Malaysia Open title, and his first All England Open title.

  • In October 2014, the Badminton Association of Malaysia confirmed that one of the nation’s leading shuttlers tested positive for dexamethasone during the recent World Championships. Later, on further testing, the doping charges were confirmed and BWF confirmed his temporary suspension and his silver medal from the 2014 World Championships was taken away.

  • In 2015, on resuming, his first tournament was the Sudirman Cup. He won all three matches he played in the tournament. He later won the US Open and Canada Open back to back. He also won the French Open, followed by his first ever China Open title, thus making him the first men’s singles player to have won all Super Series titles. He also won the Hong Kong Open, ending the year with three back-to-back titles.

:medal_military:Awards:medal_sports:
Chong Wei has received many awards throughout his illustrious career. He won 8 Penang Sportsman Award, 4 National Sportsman Award, 5 BWF Player of the Year Award, 6 TYT Prime Award Trophy, 3 Olympian of the Year Award, the Sportswriters Association of Malaysia (SAM) Award, and the Most Popular Icon on Television Award by RTM.

:raised_hands: * He retired on June 13 2019 after he was diagnosed for nose cancer.

:blue_book: His biography, ‘Dare to be a Champion’ was released in 2012 and is a bestseller in his country.

6 Likes

Hero for Malaysia No doubt! Commendable record. Sad reason to retire. May he recover soon!

One thing I notice is unbelievable 199 continuous weeks at Top and Three Olympic silvers. What kept him from Gold? Any story here?