In each of the seven Olympic Games featuring badminton, at least one event saw the top seed rise to the highest step of the podium.

Let’s have a look at who they are.

BARCELONA 92

WS: Susi Susanti

Susanti advanced without dropping a game but was pushed to three in the final by Bang Soo Hyun. Bang took the first game comfortably (11-5) before Susanti staged a comeback to win the sport’s first ever Olympic gold.

MD: Kim Moon Soo/Park Joo Bong

The final came down to world champions Kim/Park facing Eddy Hartono/Rudy Gunawan, the All England winners a few months prior, with the Koreans triumphing 15-11 15-7.

WD: Hwang Hye Young/Chung So Young

Hwang/Chung and their final opponents, Guan Weizhen and Nong Qunhua of China, won their first three matches easily. The first game of the final was an 18-16 marathon, with Hwang/Chung prevailing. The decider was close, Korea needed five match points before winning 15-13.

ATLANTA 96

MD: Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky

The final featured arguably the most famous rivalry of that era – Subagja/Mainaky versus Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock. The Malaysians stormed ahead 11-1 in the first game, winning 15-5. But the Indonesians stayed calmed to win the next two closely-fought games 15-13 15-12.

SYDNEY 2000

WS: Gong Zhichao

The top two seeds Gong and Dane Camilla Martin made the final as expected. The Chinese star faced some resistance in the first game before winning 13-10. She cruised to the second 11-3.

MD: Tony Gunawan/Candra Wijaya

This final also featured the top two seeds, with Wijaya/Gunawan reigning supreme over world champions Lee Dong Soo/Yoo Yong Sung 15-10 9-15 15-7 following a battle that lasted 77 minutes.

WD: Ge Fei/Gu Jun

The Chinese pair, defending champions from four years earlier, romped to the title again without losing a game. The final against compatriots Huang Nanyan/Yang Wei was over in just 35 minutes. In winning, Ge and Gu became badminton’s first repeat winners at the Olympics.

ATHENS 2004

WD: Zhang Jiewen/Yang Whei

Having failed in her first attempt, Yang returned to take the crown with new partner Zhang. In an all-Chinese final, they defeated Huang Sui and Gao Ling 7-15 15-4 15-8.

BEIJING 2008

MS: Lin Dan

A pumped-up Lin Dan took his first Olympic gold in ruthless fashion, seeing off Lee Chong Wei, who would go on to become his greatest rival, 21-12 21-8, in front of a raucous crowd.

MD: Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan

The Indonesian tandem justified their seeding, overcoming home favourites Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng despite losing the first game 21-12. Kido/Setiawan would bounce back to win 21-11 21-16.

LONDON 2012

MD: Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng

Cai/Fu atoned for the near-miss in Beijing by cruising to the gold medal, winning all their matches in straight games. The final was a 21-16 21-15 victory over Danes Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen.

XD: Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei

World No.1s Zhang and Zhao outmatched Chinese compatriots Xu Chen/Ma Jin to record a dominant 21-11 21-17 win.

RIO 2016

WS: Carolina Marin

Marin had little issues reaching the final, where she gave away the first game 21-19 to ninth seed Pusarla V Sindhu. The Spaniard upped her game to win the remaining duels 21-12 21-15 and become the first female shuttler from Europe to win gold.

WD: Misaki Matsutomo/Ayaka Takahashi

In an intense three-gamer, Matsutomo and Takahashi held firm against Christinna Pedersen/Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark to gift Japan its first Olympic gold.