Datuk Lee Chong Wei is a Malaysian former professional badminton player. As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 349 weeks, including a 199-week streak from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012. He is the fifth Malaysian player after Foo Kok Keong, Rashid Sidek, Roslin Hashim and Wong Choong Hann to achieve such a ranking, and is the only Malaysian shuttler who has held the number one ranking for more than a year.

The badminton tournaments at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro took place from 11 to 20 August at the fourth pavilion of Riocentro. A total of 172 athletes competed in five events: men's singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles.