Its the second week of Chris’s Olympic Challenge, meaning just 24 sports to go. Check out Chris’s take on badminton below.
‘ The weather somewhat upset my plans for last weekend, but that didn’t stop me carrying on with my challenge. I had every intention of road biking, but considering my escapades on the mountain bike, I didn’t fancy coming a cropper again so took my challenge inside to the badminton court. I had expected to fair well on the court due to my height (6 ft 7) but soon realised that height and power were not the only skills needed to be successful.
My opponent (who will remain nameless) was a much more seasoned player and had me running from corner to corner and in the end showed me that placement of the shuttlecock was the key to success – I will leave you to guess who won!
The game of badminton dates back to the 19th century and was derived from the ancient game of battledore. Apparently the shuttlecocks can reach speeds of over 400km/h in the modern game (not in our game I hasten to add) and it should be a good spectator sport in London 2012 when it takes centre stage at Wembley Arena. The Asian countries dominate and have won all but 1 of the gold medals in Olympic history but team GB have gone from strength to strength in recent years so lets keep our finger’s crossed’.
