Personal Life
In his early years, Lin was encouraged to learn to play piano by his parents, but chose to play badminton at the age of five. He joined the sports troop of the People's Liberation Army at the age of 13 and has been part of China's national badminton team since 2001 when he was 18.
On April 10, 2008, he created controversy when he struck coach Ji Xinpeng in front of his teammates and reporters during the warm-up tournament ahead of the Thomas Cup. The incident was reportedly triggered by Lin being unhappy with Ji's starting lineup for the tournament.
Lin has been in a romantic relationship with Xie Xingfang, herself a former world champion badminton player, since 2003. They were quietly engaged on December 13, 2010 in Haizhu, Guangzhou. Xie initially denied but later acknowledged her relationship with Lin. Lin reacted angrily towards the news and insisted that it was a personal matter between him and Xie. Both married on September 23, 2012 and held the wedding ceremony at the Beijing University of Technology.
Lin featured five tattoos during the 2012 Summer Olympics. He veins left upper arm with Christian cross, showing love to his Christian grandmother. Five stars on lower arm means the Grand Slam he has won. Tattoo on his right upper arm with the text 'until the end of the world', which was the English name of a song '世界が終るまでは…' by Wands, which came from his most favourite anime Slam Dunk. Double F letters on the right lower arm means 'Fang fang', nickname of his wife Xie Xingfang, and his initials LD is tattoed on the back of his neck. However, this steered controversy due to his military and religious status.
On October 17, 2012, he became the first active Chinese badminton player to accepted the master's degree at Huaqiao University.
Read more about this topic: Lin Dan
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