The Rio 2016 Olympic Games has been a huge success for GB Badminton culminating in Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis making history by securing Team GB’s first ever Men’s Doubles medal.
Rajiv Ouseph also made history to become the first Briton to reach the Olympic quarter-finals of the Men’s Singles.
GB Badminton set a minimum target of one quarter-final place for Rio and duly smashed it, but hopes are high that the performance of Chris, Marcus and the rest of the team will inspire the next generation of badminton stars in the UK.
Adrian Christy, Chief Executive of Badminton England, who administer the GB Performance Programme, said: “The Rio 2016 Olympic Games has been incredible for GB Badminton. Every player, coach and member of the support team were fantastic but Chris and Marcus – wow! They were absolutely sensational.
“So many people have worked so hard for this and we will absolutely savour the moment. We will also keep working hard to be better, to continue to improve every aspect of our performance programme because the success in Rio should be seen as part of our journey not the end.
“We want more players to be competing for medals, more often. We want our talent programme to be producing more players with the characteristics shown by Marcus and Chris throughout the Games. We should never be satisfied.
“The success in Rio has also shone a light on badminton and we must use this to inspire more people to pick up a racket and play.
“This is a huge call to action for our clubs and operators of leisure facilities to throw open their doors and enable people to play badminton. We will be working hard across the country to grow participation even more.
“We are enjoying an extraordinary experience, it’s given us a taste of what success feels like and it tastes fantastic. But once we are all back and have had a break, we will press on and strive to be better still.”
Chris and Marcus were presented with their medals following the conclusion of the Men’s Doubles gold medal match.
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