Lee copes with painful triple bypass

Most decorated

World No 1 Lee Chong Wei reacts to losing. Photo By Wei Xiaohao / China Daily

Lee bows out as Malaysia's most decorated Olympian, but he might be remembered as the player who won everything except the titles that matter.

While occupying the world's top ranking for most of his career, Lee has never won a world championship or an Asian Games gold, always losing in the finals to Lin or Chen.

Adding a sour note late in his career, he was stripped of his 2014world silver after failing a drug test.

His ability to come back last year after an eight-month ban and regain his No 1 status was a testament to his talent and determination.

But Lee's failure to win the biggest matches of his career has come to represent Malaysia's wider frustrations since the nation's debut at the Tokyo Olympics in 1964.

Lee's compatriots lost the gold medal deciders for the badminton mixed doubles on Wednesday and the men's doubles on Friday, leaving the team with three silvers from the Rio tournament.

Malaysia's long wait for an Olympic champion in any sport appeared all but certain to continue for at least another four years.

"Lee's still our hero and the others, I think in badminton, have done extremely well," said Malaysia's team chef de mission Mohamed Al-Amin Abdul Majid.

"I think Malaysia still needs to be proud - we made three finals so it's a hard act to follow."

On the prospect of his possible retirement, Lee said he hadn't had time to think about it.

"My focus was to make good preparations for these Games. Now everything is over, for me the most important thing is to have a rest."

Chen also paid tribute, saying: "Lee's three Olympic silver medals are far more valued than one gold.His fans and country should feel proud of him," he said.