Zhao Yunlei
Zhao Yunlei at the 2009 East Asian Games. | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 25 August 1986 Yichang, China |
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in) |
| Weight | 61 kg (134 lb) |
Spouse | |
| Sport | |
| Country | China |
| Sport | Badminton |
| Handedness | Right |
| Coached by | Chen Qiqiu |
| Women's & mixed doubles | |
| Highest ranking | 1 (WD with Cheng Shu, 5 November 2009) 1 (WD with Tian Qing, 20 September 2012) 1 (XD with Zhang Nan, 27 January 2011) |
| BWF profile | |
Medal record | |
| Zhao Yunlei | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese | 趙芸蕾 | ||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 赵芸蕾 | ||||||
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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.