Singles, Men

There were 48 players entered, with 16 players seeded into the second round. Denmark’s Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen had won the All-England championships in both 1990 and 1991. In the quarter-finals he faced the defending gold medalist, Alan Budikusuma, and took him out, 15-5, 15-9. In the semis he faced the 1995 World Champion, Hariyanto Arbi (INA), and eliminated him 15-11, 15-6. His final opponent was China’s Dong Jiong, but Høyer-Larsen easily dealt with him, 15-12, 15-10, finishing the tournament without losing a game. Høyer-Larsen played on his old )lucky) shoes, which were at least seven (some sources say 12) years old, and were nearly falling apart. But he had won the All Englands on them, and now won Olympic gold in them. Høyer-Larsen’s title is the only badminton gold medal won by a non-Asian player thru 2008. His countryman, Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen, had won bronze in men’s singles in 1992, also the only badminton medal won by a non-Asian at those Olympics. Heryanto Arbi lost the bronze medal match to Rashid )Adul) Sidek Mohamed of Malaysia, whose brothers, Razif and Jalani, had won a bronze in men’s doubles in 1992.