Paris Olympics: What to know and who to watch during the badminton competition

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FILE - Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen eyes a shuttle from Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen in a quarterfinal match of the Thomas Cup Finals held in Chengdu in southwestern China’s Sichuan Province, Friday, May 3, 2024. Viktor Axelsen was Europe’s only medalist (gold) in Tokyo three years ago, and he was the top qualifier for Paris. At 30, this will be his third Olympics; he won bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan, File)

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FILE - Jennie Gai and Vinson Chiu of the U.S. compete in a badminton game of the mixed doubles against Guo Xin Wa and Zhang Shu Xian of China in the BWF World Championships in Tokyo, Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2022. The U.S. mixed doubles team of Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai qualified at the Pan Am Games. It still will be an uphill climb for them to medal. (AP Photo/Hiro Komae, File)

A roadmap to follow for the badminton competition during the Paris Olympics:

Athletes to Watch

—Beiwen Zhang, United States: After winning the women’s singles gold at the 2023 Pan American Games, the 33-year-old is the best shot at the first American badminton medal at the Olympics since its debut as a medal event in 1992. Born in China, Zhang moved to Singapore as a teenager in 2007 and has represented the U.S. internationally since 2013.

—Viktor Axelsen, Denmark: Axelsen was Europe’s only medalist (gold) in Tokyo three years ago, and he was the top qualifier for Paris. At 30, this will be his third Olympics; he won bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

—Chen Yu Fei, China: The defending women’s singles champion led China to a tournament win in May and finished behind only An Se-young of South Korea in the Paris qualification rankings.

Storylines to Follow

—The U.S. mixed doubles team of Vinson Chiu and Jennie Gai qualified at the Pan Am Games. It still will be an uphill climb for them to medal.

—Pablo Abian of Spain and Kevin Cordon of Guatemala are just the third and fourth players to make it to a fifth Olympics. Neither has medaled.

—El Salvador, Kazakhstan and Nepal are represented in badminton for the first time, all in men’s singles with Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga, Dmitriy Panarin and Prince Dahal, respectively.

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Key Dates

Group play begins July 27 and runs through July 31, the same day mixed doubles quarterfinals begin. The mixed doubles bronze- and gold-medal matches are Aug. 2; women’s doubles on Aug. 3; men’s doubles on Aug. 4; and men’s and women’s singles on Aug. 5.

Reigning Champions

—Men’s singles: Viktor Axelsen, Denmark.

—Women’s singles: Chen Yu Fei, China.

—Men’s doubles: Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, Taiwan.

—Women’s doubles: Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu, Indonesia.

—Mixed doubles: Wang Yi Lyu and Huang Dong Ping, China.

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games

Olympic Hightlights

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FILE - South Africa’s Jacques Freitag competes in the men’s high jump of the 2004 Olympic Games, in the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Friday Aug. 20, 2004. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)

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FILE - Ilona Maher of USA is tackled by Sharni Williams of Australia in a semifinal of the Rugby World Cup 7’s championship held in Cape Town, South Africa, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. The main task for Maher, the breakout social media star on TikTok at the Tokyo Olympics, is winning a medal in Paris. (AP Photo/Halden Krog, File)

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FILE - Jacques Freitag of South Africa waves his national flag after he won the Men’s high jump event at the World Athletics Championships, at the Stade de France in Saint Denis, north of Paris, Monday, Aug. 25, 2003. Local media is reporting that South African police have discovered the body of former high jump world champion Jacques Freitag after he went missing last month. The reports said the 42-year-old, who won the 2003 world title in Paris and competed at the 2004 Olympics, had been shot. (AP Photo/Thomas Kienzle, File)

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Sammy Sullivan of USA in action during HSBC rugby sevens series in Singapore, on May 4, 2024. The anthem played as Army officer Sammy Sullivan stood to attention and saluted beside her U.S. rugby teammates before a gold-medal game in Hong Kong against Olympic champion New Zealand. No prizes for guessing where her mind may have drifted to: Paris in July. (AP Photo/Suhaimi Abdullah)

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USA Water Polo Women’s Senior National Team attacker Ryann Neushul, left, trains at Long Beach City College Thursday, Jan. 18, 2024, in Long Beach, Calif. Following in the footsteps of two older sisters who won gold with the U.S. women’s water polo team, Ryann Neushul is making her Olympic debut in Paris this summer. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

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Iranian wrestler Iman Mahdavi, 28, practices at the Lotta Club Seggiano gym, in Pioltello , northern Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2024. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

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FILE - Steven van de Velde of the Netherlands competes during the CEV Beach Volley Nations Cup Vienna 2022 men’s semifinal game against Austria at the Red Bull Beach Arena in Vienna, Austria, Sunday, Aug. 7, 2022. Van de Velde, convicted and imprisoned eight years ago for raping an underage girl in England has qualified for the Paris Olympics. (AP Photo/Florian Schroetter, File)