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Lose Lose

No matter what sport you play, the object of the game is to win. And that’s hard enough to do. But we found a match where four top athletes had to do the opposite in one of the most high profile matches of their careers. Thanks to a quirk in the tournament rules, their best shot at winning was … to lose.  This episode, we scrutinize the most paradoxical and upside down badminton match of all time, a match that dumbfounded spectators, officials, and even the players themselves. And it got us to wondering …  what would sports look like if everyone played to lose? Reported by Latif Nasser. Produced by Matt Kielty and Annie McEwen and Latif Nasser. Special thanks to Aparna Nancherla, Mark Phelan, Yuni Kartika, Greysia Polii, Joy Le Li, Mikyoung Kim, Stan Bischof, Vincent Liew, Kota Morikowa, Christ de Roij and Haeryun Kang. Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.
Duration
28m
Broadcast on
30 Dec 2016
Audio Format
other

No matter what sport you play, the object of the game is to win. And that’s hard enough to do. But we found a match where four top athletes had to do the opposite in one of the most high profile matches of their careers. Thanks to a quirk in the tournament rules, their best shot at winning was … to lose. 

This episode, we scrutinize the most paradoxical and upside down badminton match of all time, a match that dumbfounded spectators, officials, and even the players themselves. And it got us to wondering …  what would sports look like if everyone played to lose?

Reported by Latif Nasser. Produced by Matt Kielty and Annie McEwen and Latif Nasser.

Special thanks to Aparna Nancherla, Mark Phelan, Yuni Kartika, Greysia Polii, Joy Le Li, Mikyoung Kim, Stan Bischof, Vincent Liew, Kota Morikowa, Christ de Roij and Haeryun Kang.

Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.


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You're listening to Radio Lab. Lab. Radio Lab. From WNYC. C. C. Hi, I'm Robert Quillwick. And I'm Lutif Nasser. This is Radio Lab and today we're going to do something completely upside down. And inside out? Yes. It's a sports story. Sort of, but like none you've ever heard and therefore, we found a reporter who is a sports reporter like none you've ever heard. Yeah. I've been to a gym lately. Mike Pesca. He's the host of the JIST podcast put up by Slate, formerly of NPR, still sometimes with NPR. And now he's here telling the story to us. Yeah. And how did you even first hear about this? Were you covering it? Oh, yeah. Yeah. So. This is Morning Edition from NPR News. I'm Renee Montay. I was covering the 2012 Olympics for NPR. Good morning. Hello. And I declare open the games of London. The stories of the Olympics.

Transcription truncated.

No matter what sport you play, the object of the game is to win. And that’s hard enough to do. But we found a match where four top athletes had to do the opposite in one of the most high profile matches of their careers. Thanks to a quirk in the tournament rules, their best shot at winning was … to lose.  This episode, we scrutinize the most paradoxical and upside down badminton match of all time, a match that dumbfounded spectators, officials, and even the players themselves. And it got us to wondering …  what would sports look like if everyone played to lose? Reported by Latif Nasser. Produced by Matt Kielty and Annie McEwen and Latif Nasser. Special thanks to Aparna Nancherla, Mark Phelan, Yuni Kartika, Greysia Polii, Joy Le Li, Mikyoung Kim, Stan Bischof, Vincent Liew, Kota Morikowa, Christ de Roij and Haeryun Kang. Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate.