The game itself
Dating back to at least the 19th century, badminton is popular throughout the world these days. In Europe, it is particularly big in Scandinavia and England, but has been on the rise in many other countries for a long time. Beyond Europe, some of the world's best players are found in southern and eastern Asia.
Facts and Trivia
On Mount Olymp...
It was a long time coming, but in 1992, in Barcelona, badminton finally became an Olympic discipline.
Lightweight and fast...
A modern badminton racquet weighs less than a normal bar of chocolate. If it's heavier than 100g you feel you're swinging a brick at a couple of feathers stuck on a piece of cork. The shuttle itself weighs about 5g and is usually made of real goose (or duck) feathers. (Unless you opt for the plastic alternative, of course.) The highest speed a player has ever made a shuttle to fly at is an amazing 421 km/h. That's quite a bit faster than the normal speed of a Eurostar high speed train.
Long distances
The badminton court may look relatively small (81 square metres with a net in the middle), but a fast game of about 45 minutes can still make you run approximately one mile, make up to 350 90-degree turns and do countless instances of jumping, twisting, stretching, running backwards, striking the shuttle, and so on. This makes badminton one of the best exercises to keep fit.