Barcelona hosted badminton’s first Olympic tournament as an official medal sport in 1992.
Badminton had appeared at the 1972 Munich Olympics as a demonstration sport and returned as an exhibition sport at Seoul in 1988. It became a full Olympic medal sport at the 1992 Summer Games in Barcelona, where men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles and women’s doubles were contested.
Mixed doubles was added to the Olympic programme at Atlanta in 1996. This means the Barcelona tournament was the Olympic debut for badminton as a medal sport, but it did not yet include every event used today.
The 1992 competition helped establish badminton’s Olympic identity. Indonesia and South Korea were especially successful at the inaugural official tournament. The sport’s Olympic format has since continued to feature singles and doubles events, with mixed doubles completing the five-event programme.