Lee Yang

Lee (left) pictured with Wang Chi-lin during the 2024 Paris Olympics. Lee Yang (; born 12 August 1995) is a Taiwanese politician and former professional badminton player. He is the Olympic men's doubles champion in 2020 and 2024, becoming the first unseeded men's doubles pair in Olympics history to win consecutive gold medals. Lee also won the bronze medals at the 2018 and 2022 Asian Games, as well at the 2023 Asian Championships. With his former partner Wang Chi-lin, they reached a career high as World number 2 in September 2022.

Life and career Lee was born in Taipei in 1995, his paternal line was originated from Kinmen and has his household registration located in Jinning, Kinmen. He was educated and raised in Taipei and has started his career in badminton in fifth grade. Lee played in the men's doubles with Lee Jhe-huei. They were champions in 2016 at the Vietnam Open Grand Prix. In 2015, together they entered the 2015 Chinese Taipei Masters Grand Prix, 2015 Vietnam Open Grand Prix, and 2015 Korea Masters Grand Prix Gold. In 2016 they entered the 2016 Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold, 2016 Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold and 2016 Dutch Open Grand Prix. He won the men's doubles title at the 2017 French Open. In 2018, he competed at the Asian Games and won bronze medals in the men's doubles and team events.

Lee made a new partnership with Wang Chi-lin in the end of 2018. Wang and Lee are class mates from junior high school. The duo reached six finals in the 2019 BWF World Tour, managed to win the Spain Masters, Orléans Masters, India Open, and Korea Masters.

In 2021, at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he partnered with Wang Chi-lin to defeat the 2018 World Champion pairing of Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen in the final. They became the first unseeded pair to win an Olympic gold in the men's doubles event and the first to win a gold in badminton for Chinese Taipei.

In 2024, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, he and his partner Wang Chi-lin repeated the feat to win in the men's doubles finals as an unseeded pair, making history to become the first men's doubles pair in history to defend their Olympic title. Lai Ching-te, the current President of Taiwan, congratulated Lee and Wang on their victory by referring to the pair as "the country's glory".

After appearing in the 2024 Taipei Open, Lee retired from professional badminton to become a lecturer at the National Taiwan Sport University. A farewell ceremony for Lee was held after the Taipei Open tournament on 9 September 2024, with his last professional tournament being the 2024 BWF World Tour Finals in December.

Political career

The Ministry of Sports was established as a cabinet-level ministry of the government of the Republic of China on 9 September 2025, with Lee as its inaugural minister and the youngest government minister in Taiwanese history.

Achievements

Olympic Games Men's doubles

Asian Games Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2018 Istora Gelora Bung Karno,Jakarta, Indonesia Lee Jhe-huei Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo 15–21, 22–20, 12–21 Bronze Bronze 2022 Binjiang Gymnasium,Hangzhou, China Wang Chi-lin Choi Sol-gyu Kim Won-ho 12–21, 10–21 Bronze Bronze

Asian Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2023 Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall,Dubai, United Arab Emirates Wang Chi-lin Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Chirag Shetty 18–21, 14–13 retired Bronze Bronze

Summer Universiade Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2017 Taipei Gymnasium,Taipei, Taiwan Lee Jhe-huei Kenya Mitsuhashi Katsuki Tamate 21–13, 14–21, 18–21 Bronze Bronze

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2017 Taipei Gymnasium,Taipei, Taiwan Hsu Ya-ching Nur Mohd Azriyn Ayub Goh Yea Ching 14–21, 16–21 Bronze Bronze

World University Championships Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2016 Sports Palace "Borisoglebskiy",Ramenskoe, Russia Lee Jhe-huei Choi Sol-gyu Kim Jae-hwan 21–19, 14–21, 17–21 Silver Silver

Mixed doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2016 Sports Palace "Borisoglebskiy",Ramenskoe, Russia Hsu Ya-ching Mohd Lutfi Zaim Abdul Khalid Shevon Jamie Lai 21–13, 21–19 Gold Gold

BWF World Tour (8 titles, 6 runners-up) The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.

Men's doubles Year Tournament Level Partner Opponent Score Result 2019 Spain Masters Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Kim Won-ho Seo Seung-jae 21–8, 23–21 Winner 2019 Swiss Open Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto 19–21, 16–21 Runner-up 2019 Orléans Masters Super 100 Wang Chi-lin Akira Koga Taichi Saito 16–21, 22–20, 21–15 Winner 2019 India Open Super 500 Wang Chi-lin Angga Pratama Ricky Karanda Suwardi 21–14, 21–14 Winner 2019 U.S. Open Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Ko Sung-hyun Shin Baek-cheol 13–21, 21–17, 3–6 retired Runner-up 2019 Korea Masters Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Goh V Shem Tan Wee Kiong 21–19, 20–22, 21–19 Winner 2020 Spain Masters Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Kim Astrup Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 17–21, 19–21 Runner-up 2020 (I) Thailand Open Super 1000 Wang Chi-lin Goh V Shem Tan Wee Kiong 21–16, 21–23, 21–19 Winner 2020 (II) Thailand Open Super 1000 Wang Chi-lin Aaron Chia Soh Wooi Yik 21–13, 21–18 Winner 2020 BWF World Tour Finals World Tour Finals Wang Chi-lin Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan 21–17, 23–21 Winner 2022 Taipei Open Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Man Wei Chong Tee Kai Wun 18–21, 21–10, 18–21 Runner-up 2023 Japan Open Super 750 Wang Chi-lin Takuro Hoki Yugo Kobayashi 21–19, 21–13 Winner 2023 Hylo Open Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Liu Yuchen Ou Xuanyi 22–24, 13–21 Runner-up 2023 Korea Masters Super 300 Wang Chi-lin Lee Jhe-huei Yang Po-hsuan 17–21, 19–21 Runner-up

BWF Superseries (1 title) The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.

Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2017 French Open Lee Jhe-huei Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen 21–19, 23–21 Winner BWF Superseries Finals tournament BWF Superseries Premier tournament BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 2 runners-up) The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017.

Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2016 Vietnam Open Lee Jhe-huei Koo Kien Keat Tan Boon Heong 18–21, 21–14, 21–7 Winner 2016 Dutch Open Lee Jhe-huei Mathias Christiansen David Daugaard 21–17, 21–17 Winner 2016 Macau Open Lee Jhe-huei Lu Kai Zhang Nan 17–21, 21–18, 21–19 Winner 2016 Korea Masters Lee Jhe-huei Kim Jae-hwan Ko Sung-hyun 19–21, 18–21 Runner-up 2017 Chinese Taipei Open Lee Jhe-huei Chen Hung-ling Wang Chi-lin 16–21, 20–22 Runner-up BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (1 runner-up) Men's doubles Year Tournament Partner Opponent Score Result 2015 Malaysia International Lee Jhe-huei Lin Chia-yu Wu Hsiao-lin 21–17, 16–21, 18–21 Runner-up BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament