Singles, Women

Zhang Ning had been on the Chinese National team since 1991, but had not yet competed at the Olympics. She was the 2003 World Champion and was seeded #1 in Athina. She made it to the final despite losing sets in both the first round and the quarter-finals. There she met Mia Audina representing the Netherlands. Audina had been a badminton prodigy, competing in the Uber Cup when she was only 14 in 1994, at which time she competed for her native Indonesia. She was the singles silver medalist in 1996. She had since married a Dutch gospel singer and settled in the Netherlands, representing them at the 2000 and 2004 Olympics. Zhang and Audina had first competed against each other at the 1994 Uber Cup, with Audina winning the final match of the final in front of a very partisan crowd in Jakarta. The first set of the Athina final was similar, Audina winning 11-8. But Zhang persevered and won the last two sets to win the gold medal. The bronze medal match was an all-Chinese affair, Zhou Mi defeating Gong Ruina.