Power ranking every single sport at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics
By Nick Villano
35. Badminton
A simple backyard game that your mom set up one time and now it’s a net that your dad runs into six times while mowing the lawn is indeed an Olympic sport. Most people know the sport. It’s basically like tennis on a smaller court with a strange projectile called a shuttlecock. It almost defies physics with how it moves through the air but just dies in its momentum. Heck, the shuttlecock might be the most impressive thing about this sport. That’s not to offend; we’re just enthralled by the device.
The history of this game is a little ambiguous. We just know that the shuttlecock has evidence that goes back centuries, which outlives the game of badminton itself. So, how did this get into the Olympics?
Despite its history, it took badminton until 1992 to become an official Olympic sport. This was something that was literally two decades in the making. Changes in official badminton leadership caused multiple delays, but it finally made it in the first Games of the 90s. It was a demonstration sport for a little while, and an exhibition sport at one year’s Games before the IOC relented and gave them a spot.
This year, there are 172 athletes going to Paris to compete for five event’s worth of gold medals (eight gold medals total). It’s clearly still a popular sport and one people want to compete in.