Peter GADE

Name: Peter GADE
Gender: Male
Date of Birth: 14 DEC 1976
Height: 1.84 m / 6’0″
Profession:
Hobbies:
Other Sports Activities:
Olympic Event: Badminton
Olympic Qualification:
NOC Code: DEN
Place of Birth: Aalborg, Denmark
Weight: 73 kg / 161 lbs
Marital Status:
Started Competing:
National Coach:
Personal Best:
Season Best:
Olympic Solidarity:

General Interests
Nickname: Flyer or Street. (Athlete 03/08/99)
Hobbies: Music, Liverpool Football Club, golf and watching films, wine club, cooking. (Athlete 03/08/99, NOC 21/07/04)
Occupation: Professional badminton player
MarStatus: Single
LangSpoken: Danish, English and German
Club: Gentofte Badminton Club, Copenhagen, Zealand, DEN (petergade.net 11/06/03)
Coach: Jens Meibom and Steen Pedersen (Athlete 01/07/04)
Handedness: R
Injuries: In 2001 he sustained a serious knee cartilage injury. At the beginning of 2002 he underwent surgery keeping him out of competition for nine months. He made his return in September 2002 winning the US Open men’s singles title. (worldbadminton.net 24/09/02)
AddInformation: When and where did you begin this sport?
He played with his parents on Saturday mornings and by the age of six decided he liked the game.
Why this sport?
“The key for me was badminton is an individual sport [he was also a talented football player] and when compared to football – where I love the team element and camaraderie – I wanted to take individual responsibility for the whole of the playing performance whilst enjoying the team spirit.”

Most influential person in career
M. Frost, L. Kenneth and M. Kjeldsen, all former coaches. (Athlete 01/07/04)

Hero / Idol
Michael Laudrup, Bill Shankly and Babyface. (Athlete 03/08/99)

Toughest rival / opponent
Lin Dan, China. (Athlete 01/07/04)

Superstitions / Rituals / Beliefs
He ties two scarfs to his racquet bag – those of the football clubs, AC Milan and Liverpool. (Athlete 03/08/99)

Sporting philosophy / motto
“Do your best when you’ re in action, that’s all you can demand.” (Athlete 01/07/04)

Awards and honours
He won the Eddy Choong Player of the Year award in 1999. (Athlete 03/08/99).

He has also been ranked number one in the world for three years in a row. (Athlete 01/07/04)

Ambitions
“That I will be remembered for making a difference to badminton for the years I played. Both on court and off court.” (Athlete 01/07/04)

Other Information
EARLY DAYS
As a child he used to practice badminton in his bedroom by dragging his toy boxes in front of the wall to act as a net and he would then volley a ping pong ball against the wall, sometimes for up to an hour and a half and believes this helped in the development of his skills and reaction better than anything else. (Olympic News Service 2000)

Highlights
The Competition Highlights section contains the following results:
Last Olympic Cycle; Top 8 results at Olympic Games and World Championships. Top 3 results at World Grand Prix competitions.
Historical; Medals at Olympic Games and World Championships.
Rnk Event Year Venue

Olympic Games
4th Singles 2000 Sydney, AUS

World Championships
Runner-up Singles 2001 Seville, ESP
Semi Final Singles 1999 Copenhagen, DEN

World Grand Prix
Winner Singles 2002 USA Open
Winner Singles 2001 Samsung Korea Open
Winner Singles 2000 Samsung Korea Open
Winner Singles 2000 Chinese Taipei Open
Winner Singles 2000 Denmark Open
Winner Singles 1999 Japan Open
Winner Singles 1998 Denmark Open
Winner Singles 1998 Swiss Open
Runner-up Singles 2004 Yonex All England Open
Semi Final Singles 2003 China Open
Semi Final Singles 2001 All England Open