‘I’m not finished’: Badminton’s Beiwen Zhang wants gold in the final Olympics of her decadeslong career

Beiwen Zhang was on her way to making the badminton podium at the Tokyo Olympics when the unthinkable happened: She ruptured her Achilles tendon in a match against China’s He Bingjiao.

“My coach was talking to me like, ‘Are you able to [stand] up?’ I couldn’t,” she told The World. “And then when I [touched] my Achilles, there [was] nothing there. I couldn’t even lift my foot.”

Zhang ended up getting taken off the court in a wheelchair, crying with her head in her hands. But her athletic career — which was supposed to end after the Tokyo Games — suddenly felt incomplete.

“I [didn’t] want to finish my career like [that]. Because people were, like, pushing a wheelchair, pushing me out from the court,” she said. “So, I feel like I’m … I’m not finished.”

That’s why, at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Zhang is back on the court for another shot at a gold medal.

She plans to retire after the Games, ending a decades-long career that began in her home country of China, where she was introduced to badminton at age 8. 

At 13, she moved to Singapore by herself to pursue the sport. She remembers getting bullied there, and the coaches also put a lot of pressure on her to perform.

“Before the match, [the coaches were] like, ‘You have to win. We are counting your points.’” she said. “It was so hard for me to [deal] with that.”

Looking back, she’s proud of her teenage self for getting through that period. Zhang ended up retiring from Singapore’s National Team in 2010. But then, she got the opportunity to move to Las Vegas and kept playing. Her skills got better than ever.

“In the USA, I feel … I feel really free,” she said. “Everybody was so supportive. Even [if] I lose the game, the people are just cheering me on like, ‘Oh, you have the next one.’”

Zhang is among a growing group of athletes, including gymnasts, tennis players and breakers, who are speaking out about the immense pressure they face. Mental health is a focus point at the Paris Olympics, too. This year, India has sent sports psychologists with its Olympic athletes for the first time. On Monday, star USA sprinter Noah Lyles shared that he copes with pressure by working with three therapists.

Despite now competing at the highest levels of her career, Zhang said she feels more at ease than ever before.

“I actually enjoy being in the US where they don’t really know the sport, so I can do my own thing,” she said. “I don’t want people taking pictures all of the time.”

She may not like the limelight, but she does want the gold — and she’s going for it in Paris. With one win under her belt, her Achilles is so far holding up. No matter what the outcome at this summer’s Olympics, Zhang — now 34 – says she is hanging up her racket for good at the end of the year. 

“I just want to lie down for at least a year; I don’t want to do anything,” she said while laughing. “‘Cause I’m really tired. I’ve been doing this for 20 years as a professional. I need a little bit of a break.”

Zhang will stay in Las Vegas, though, and hopes to use her legacy to make badminton more popular in the US.