Badminton ace Lin Dan arrives in Rio, eager for competition

The Chinese badminton team, spearheaded by superstar Lin Dan, has arrived here on Monday, four days ahead of the Rio Olympic badminton competitions getting underway.

Before their arrival here on Sunday, the Chinese badminton team has trained at Sao Paulo for around 10 days, reports Xinhua.

Rio Games will be Lin's fourth Olympics. The badminton ace is aiming for a record three-consecutive Olympic men's singles gold medal.

"Right now I'm feeling relatively calm," Lin told reporters at the international airport of Rio. But after I enter the Olympic village, take out my racket and go to the competition venue, my mindset will be a bit different."

Lin is looking forward getting a feel of the competition venue as soon as possible. "I heard that other teams have started training there. We only have three days to get familiar with the venue and the space of field of play. The time is limited."

Li Yongbo, the head coach of the Chinese badminton team said athletes have adjusted to the jet lag.

"All of the athletes trained very hard and successfully prevented from getting injured."

China made a clean sweep of the whole five gold medals in badminton at the 2012 London Olympics.

--IANS

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