Who are the BBC badminton commentators? Pundits at Paris 2024 Olympics
PARIS 2024 is now in its final week, with more exciting sporting events still to come.
To cover badminton at the Olympics, the BBC has lined up two commentators who bring a wealth of experience.
Who are the badminton commentators?
Sam Smith
Sam Smith is a former professional tennis player, who was the British ladies’ No. 1 from 1996 to 1999.
She now commentates on the game, predominantly for the BBC, ITV, Sky Sports, BT Sport, Eurosport & Amazon Prime.
Smith was born in Epping, Essex, and received her education at Bancroft’s School.
She took a three-year break from tennis to attend the University of Exeter, where she earned an upper second-class Honours degree in history.
During her professional career, Smith competed on the WTA Tour, participating in major tournaments including Grand Slam events.
She had many significant performances, reaching the fourth round of Wimbledon in 1998 and the second round of the Australian Open in 1999.
After retiring from tennis, Smith transitioned to a career as a sports commentator.
Since 2009 Smith has provided commentary for the Australian Open for the Seven Network and since 2019 the Nine Network.
Simon Reed
Simon Reed is a British sports commentator and journalist, born on August 5, 1947, in Sutton, Surrey.
He is known for his work as a commentator on a variety of sports.
Over his career, he has worked for several prominent broadcasting networks, including Eurosport.
In addition to his work in tennis, his voice has also been heard on the television show Dancing On Ice.
Reed began his career in tennis commentary in 1984 for Channel Four.
He joined Eurosport in 1991 and has been a significant part of their commentary team, becoming the head of the team in 1995.
Since 2000, Reed has also been part of the BBC’s Wimbledon commentary team and he has commentated on all four Grand Slam tournaments.
In addition to Grand Slams, he has covered numerous ATP and WTA tour events.
When are the badminton events?
The badminton events at the 2024 Paris Olympics will take place from July 27, 2024, to August 5, 2024.
The competitions will be held at the Porte de La Chapelle Arena.
Badminton Olympics schedule
The schedule for the badminton events is as follows:
- July 27-31: Group play for men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, and mixed doubles.
- August 1: Round of 16 for men’s singles and women’s singles, mixed doubles semifinals.
- August 2: Quarterfinals for men’s singles and women’s singles, semifinals for men’s and women’s doubles, and medal matches for mixed doubles.
- August 3: Quarterfinals for women’s singles, and medal matches for women’s doubles.
- August 4: Semifinals for men’s and women’s singles, and medal matches for men’s doubles.
- August 5: Medal matches for men’s and women’s singles
What medals have been won so far for badminton?
As of now, the badminton events at the Paris 2024 Olympics have seen several medalists in different categories.
Following medals have been won:
- Mixed Doubles:
- Gold: Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong (China)
- Silver: Kim Won-Ho and Jeong Na-Eun (South Korea)
- Bronze: Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino (Japan)
- Women’s Doubles:
- Gold: Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan (China)
- Silver: Liu Shengshu and Tan Ning (China)
- Bronze: Matsuyama Nami and Shida Chiharu (Japan)
- Men’s Doubles:
- Gold: Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin (Chinese Taipei)
- Silver: Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang (China)
- Bronze: Chia Aaron and Soh Wooi Yik (Malaysia)
The Men and Women Single Medal Matches are happening on Monday, August 5, 2024.
At 13:30, the Men’s Singles Bronze Medal Match in badminton will take place between Zii Jia Lee from Malaysia and Lakshya Sen from India.
Following this, at 14:40, the Men’s Singles Gold Medal Match will occur, with Kunlavut Vitidsarn from Thailand competing against Viktor Axelsen from Denmark.
At 09:55, the Women’s Singles Gold Medal Match started with An Se Young from South Korea playing against He Bing Jiao from China.
What's happening today at The Games?
WHAT TO WATCH TODAY
TODAY’S BRIT MEDAL HOPES
Keely Hodgkinson is among the favourites to win gold in the women’s 800m final (8.45pm), three years on from silver in Tokyo.
Kimberley Woods, Mallory Franklin and Joe Clarke could secure a triple-header in the maiden Olympic kayak cross finals (3.55pm).
GB will hope to retain their triathlon mixed relay (7am) and the women’s cycling team sprint (6.55pm) offers a real medal chance on the opening day in the velodrome.
BRITS TO WATCH
The sport climbing gets underway with four Brits – Hamish McArthur and 19-year-old sensation Toby Roberts starting with their bouldering in the boulder and lead event (9am).
And the women’s hockey team face a nightmare quarter-final against the all-conquering Dutch (4.30pm).
GLOBAL STARS TODAY
Sweden’s Mondo Duplantis will try and break his own latest world record once again in the men’s paul vault final (6pm).
The men’s football reaches the semi-finals with hosts France facing Egypt (8pm) after Spain vs Morocco (5pm).
And this will be the last we see of Simone Biles in Paris. She is set to go in the women’s balance beam (11.30am) and floor finals (1.20pm).
FANCY SOMETHING DIFFERENT?
It is the final day for both the 3×3 basketball and the surfing.
The 3×3 basketball finishes with the gold medal matches from 9pm at La Concorde.
Over in Tahiti, Gabriel Medina appeared to defy gravity with THAT incredible levitating photo and has a shot at gold today.
STATS MAD
0 – A rule change to the artistic swimming (formerly synchronised swimming) means men are now able to compete in the team event for the first time in Olympics history… but the new legislation only came in 18 months and precisely ZERO males were selected.
Follow all the action as it unfolds with our Paris 2024 Olympics LIVE blog.