Career

Lin became one of the dominant players of men's singles, winning nine top tier international championships between 2002 and 2004. In a surprise loss, he was eliminated as the no.1 seed in the first round of the badminton men's singles in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. However, he has continued his dominance in international tournaments and has often been ranked number one in the world since early 2004, although Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia overtook him in 2006 and again in 2009.

Among the tournaments Lin Dan have won are the All-England Open (2004, 2006, 2007 and 2009), the BWF World Championships (2006, 2007 and 2009), and the Olympic Games (2008). He has helped China win three consecutive Thomas Cup (men's world team) championships in 2004, 2006, and 2008 and has also been a major contributor to Chinese teams which won the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's team championship) in 2005, 2007 and 2009.

2004

By the beginning of 2004, Lin Dan was already world number one at age 20. He started off the year by winning his first All England title by beating Peter Gade of Denmark. He continued to shine as he won the Swiss Open and the Denmark Open by defeating his senior teammate and former world number one Xia Xuanze. He also went on to take the German Open and the China Open, beating his compatriot and good friend Bao Chunlai. In May, Lin Dan also played a major role in bringing the Thomas Cup back to China after a long domination by Indonesia.

2005

In 2005, Lin Dan won his "warm-up" tournament for the All England, the German Open, after beating Malaysia's Muhammad Hafiz Hashim. However he lost his All England title to compatriot Chen Hong. In May 2005, Lin Dan and his compatriots brought back the Sudirman Cup to China, where in 2003 they had lost to South Korea. In August, Lin Dan reached his first World Championship final in Anaheim, USA, but lost to the talented Indonesian, Taufik Hidayat. Even so, he managed to claim more titles at the China Masters and the Hong Kong Open.

2006

Lin Dan started 2006 by recapturing the All England championship by overcoming Lee Hyun-il of South Korea. He carried on his reign as the world number one when he swept the Chinese Taipei Open, the Macau Open, Hong Kong Open and Japan Open. In September 2006, Lin Dan won his first World Championship by beating fellow compatriot Bao Chunlai in a three game thriller 18–21, 21–17, 21–12. Subsequently, Lin Dan regained his world number one status which had been briefly occupied by Lee Chong Wei.

Earlier in May, Lin Dan and his teammates extended China's supremacy in the Thomas Cup event in Tokyo, Japan. Lin Dan beat Peter Gade in the first mens singles match in straight sets 21–17, 21–19 as China shut out Denmark 3–0 in the final.

2007

Lin Dan entered 2007 with a loss at the Malaysia Open, losing to South Korea's Park Sung-hwan in the round of 16. The losing streak did not last long as a week later he captured the Korea Open after defeating his fellow national player Chen Jin. He went on to win the German Open and then the All England championships again, crushing compatriot Chen Yu 21–13, 21–12. In June, Lin Dan was part of Team China in the Sudirman Cup, which was held in Glasgow, Scotland. The Chinese team brought home the cup after beating Indonesia 3–0 in the final. Later in the season Lin Dan ousted Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia and became the China's Master champion for 2007. In August, Lin Dan extended his reign as the world champion as he beat Indonesia's Sony Dwi Kuncoro 21–11, 22–20. Lin Dan would become the first man since Yang Yang to win back to back world championships.

2008

As every athlete looked forward to the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, Lin Dan, who was certainly qualified to play, did not begin the year on a strong note: he failed to win either the Malaysian Open or the Korean Open (he was a finalist in the latter). He also lost his All England title to Chen Jin, but then went on to win the Swiss Open.

At the 2008 Thomas Cup, which was held in Jakarta, Lin Dan won every match he played except in the semi-finals where he lost to Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei. Even with his loss, his team advanced to the finals. In the finals, Lin Dan earned a point for China by returning from a first-set loss and overcame Park Sung-Hwan of South Korea 10–21, 21–18, 21–8. China beat South Korea 3–1 and brought the cup back for the third consecutive time.

Lin Dan did not play in Singapore Open or the Indonesia Open, two Super Series tournaments, because of his intensive training for the Olympic Games. He did, however, play in the Thailand Open Grand Prix as a precursor to the Olympic Games. There, he defeated local favorite Boonsak Ponsana to take the title.

In the Olympic Games, Lin Dan, who was undoubtedly the local hero and heavy favourite, began his gold medal hunt by subduing Hong Kong's Ng Wei 21–16, 21–13 in the round of 32. Next he saw off Park Sung-Hwan 21–11, 21–8, and in the quarter finals, Lin Dan ended veteran Peter Gade's dream of ever winning an Olympic medal as he beat Gade in straight sets. He then faced teammate Chen Jin in the semi-finals and beat him handily in two sets. This vaulted him into the finals where he was set to meet Lee Chong Wei. The dream match had finally come as the World No. 1 and 2 were set to battle it out for badminton's most prestigious title. It was supposed to be a tough match for both players, but Lin Dan grabbed the gold as he overwhelmed the Malaysian in a one-sided two-setter 21–12, 21–8. Lin Dan thus became the first men's singles player ever to win the All England title, two world championship titles, and the Olympic gold medal.

After a hiatus of almost four months, Lin Dan came back in November from a post-Olympic break and played in the China Open Super Series. He again met Lee Chong Wei in the finals and won by the scores of 21–18, 21–9 with the second set almost identical to their match in the Beijing Games. In late November he faced Chen Jin in the finals of the Hong Kong Super Series but lost 9–21, 21–9, 17–21.

Even though Lin Dan only competed in 5 Super Series events that year, he had enough points to qualify for the BWF Super Series Masters Finals being held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. However, Lin Dan did not participate in the tournament because the Chinese team did not send any representatives.

2009

Lin Dan won the 2009 All-England men's singles, beating Lee Chong Wei 21–19, 21–12. The first set was a thriller and Lin Dan's unforced errors gave the World No. 1 Lee a lead, although "Super Dan" came back in style to take the set and then cruised in the second to win the match. A mere week later, however, he was beaten by Lee in the final of the Omega European Masters (Swiss Open in Basel) 21–16, 21–16.

In May, Lin Dan was part of Team China in the Sudirman Cup, which was held in Guangzhou, China. He played for China team in every match and won all of them, including the semi-finals against Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei with, ironically, the exact same score-line of 21/16 – 21/16 when Lee Chong Wei beat Lin Dan in the Swiss Open final. This was also the first time Lin Dan beat Lee Chong Wei in a team event. The Chinese team proved too strong for other teams by sweeping the competition at home, with all their players undefeated, with 21 matches won and none lost.

In August, Lin became the first player to win three straight World Championships, when he beat compatriot Chen Jin 21–18, 21–16 in 45 minutes at the final of 2009 World Championships in Hyderabad, India.