Lee Yang
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Lee Yang (Chinese: 李洋; pinyin: Lǐ Yáng; born 12 August 1995) is a Taiwanese politician and former professional badminton player. He is the Olympic men's doubles champion in 2020 and 2024, becoming the first unseeded men's doubles pair in Olympics history to win consecutive gold medals. Lee also won the bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, as well at the 2023 Asian Championships. With his former partner Wang Chi-lin, they reached a career high as World number 2 in September 2022.
Life and career
Lee was born in Taipei in 1995, his paternal line was originated from Kinmen and has his household registration located in Jinning, Kinmen. He was educated and raised in Taipei and has started his career in badminton in fifth grade. Lee played in the men's doubles with Lee Jhe-huei. They were champions in 2016 at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix. In 2015, together they entered the 2015 Chinese Taipei Masters Grand Prix, 2015 Vietnam Open Grand Prix, and 2015 Korea Masters Grand Prix Gold. In 2016 they entered the 2016 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold, 2016 Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold and 2016 Dutch Open Grand Prix. He won the men's doubles title at the 2017 French Open. In 2018, he competed at the Asian Games and won bronze medals in the men's doubles and team events.
Lee made a new partnership with Wang Chi-lin in the end of 2018. Wang and Lee are class mates from junior high school. The duo reached six finals in the 2019 BWF World Tour, managed to win the Spain Masters, Orléans Masters, India Open, and Korea Masters.
In 2021, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he partnered with Wang Chi-lin to defeat the 2018 World Champion pairing of Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen in the final. They became the first unseeded pair to win an Olympic gold in the men's doubles event and the first to win a gold in badminton for Chinese Taipei.
In 2024, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he and his partner Wang Chi-lin repeated the feat to win in the men's doubles finals as an unseeded pair, making history to become the first men's doubles pair in history to defend their Olympic title. Lai Ching-te, the current President of Taiwan, congratulated Lee and Wang on their victory by referring to the pair as "the country's glory".
After appearing in the 2024 Taipei Open, Lee retired from professional badminton to become a lecturer at the National Taiwan Sport University. A farewell ceremony for Lee was held after the Taipei Open tournament on 9 September 2024, with his last professional tournament being the 2024 BWF World Tour Finals in December.
Political career
The Ministry of Sports was established as a cabinet-level ministry of the government of the Republic of China on 9 September 2025, with Lee as its inaugural minister and the youngest government minister in Taiwanese history.
Achievements
Olympic Games
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Tokyo, Japan | Chinese Taipei Wang Chi-lin | China Li Junhui China Liu Yuchen | 21–18, 21–12 | Gold |
| 2024 | Porte de La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France | Chinese Taipei Wang Chi-lin | China Liang Weikeng China Wang Chang | 21–17, 18–21, 21–19 | Gold |
Asian Games
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Indonesia Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Indonesia Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo | 15–21, 22–20, 12–21 | Bronze |
| 2022 | Binjiang Gymnasium, Hangzhou, China | Chinese Taipei Wang Chi-lin | South Korea Choi Sol-gyu South Korea Kim Won-ho | 12–21, 10–21 | Bronze |
Asian Championships
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates | Chinese Taipei Wang Chi-lin | India Satwiksairaj Rankireddy India Chirag Shetty | 18–21, 14–13 retired | Bronze |
Summer Universiade
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Taiwan | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Japan Kenya Mitsuhashi Japan Katsuki Tamate | 21–13, 14–21, 18–21 | Bronze |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Taipei Gymnasium, Taipei, Taiwan | Chinese Taipei Hsu Ya-ching | Malaysia Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Malaysia Goh Yea Ching | 14–21, 16–21 | Bronze |
World University Championships
Men's doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Sports Palace "Borisoglebskiy", Ramenskoe, Russia | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | South Korea Choi Sol-gyu South Korea Kim Jae-hwan | 21–19, 14–21, 17–21 | Silver |
Mixed doubles
| Year | Venue | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Sports Palace "Borisoglebskiy", Ramenskoe, Russia | Chinese Taipei Hsu Ya-ching | Malaysia Mohd Lutfi Zaim Abdul Khalid Malaysia Shevon Jamie Lai | 21–13, 21–19 | Gold |
BWF World Tour (8 titles, 6 runners-up)
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.
Men's doubles
BWF Superseries (1 title)
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | French Open | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Denmark Mathias Boe Denmark Carsten Mogensen | 21–19, 23–21 | Winner |
BWF Superseries Finals tournament
BWF Superseries Premier tournament
BWF Superseries tournament
BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 2 runners-up)
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Vietnam Open | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Malaysia Koo Kien Keat Malaysia Tan Boon Heong | 18–21, 21–14, 21–7 | Winner |
| 2016 | Dutch Open | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Denmark Mathias Christiansen Denmark David Daugaard | 21–17, 21–17 | Winner |
| 2016 | Macau Open | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | China Lu Kai China Zhang Nan | 17–21, 21–18, 21–19 | Winner |
| 2016 | Korea Masters | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | South Korea Kim Jae-hwan South Korea Ko Sung-hyun | 19–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
| 2017 | Chinese Taipei Open | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Chinese Taipei Chen Hung-ling Chinese Taipei Wang Chi-lin | 16–21, 20–22 | Runner-up |
BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament
BWF Grand Prix tournament
BWF International Challenge/Series (1 runner-up)
Men's doubles
| Year | Tournament | Partner | Opponent | Score | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Malaysia International | Chinese Taipei Lee Jhe-huei | Chinese Taipei Lin Chia-yu Chinese Taipei Wu Hsiao-lin | 21–17, 16–21, 18–21 | Runner-up |
BWF International Challenge tournament
BWF International Series tournament
BWF Future Series tournament
External links
- at BWFBadminton.com
- at BWF.TournamentSoftware.com (archived)
- at Olympedia
- at Olympics.com
- at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics (archived, )
- on Instagram