Completing Olympic dreams: Aragon grad competes on international stage in Paris

The 21-year-old badminton player from Foster City and his men’s doubles partner, Vinson Chiu, are ranked first in the United States and in the top 50 internationally. Yuan and Chiu had their Olympic debut July 27 in a match against the number two seed, Sweden’s Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. The pair did not make it past the group stage.

“I can’t say I’m satisfied with the results, obviously, but I’m definitely happy with our performance,” Yuan said. “We proved that we could compete on a world level.”

“Being a badminton player from the USA, we’re pretty much one of the lowest ranking teams because badminton is not big here. I was more excited than anxious to play, because I knew I had no pressure going in,” Yuan said. 

Yuan and Chiu, as well as Chiu’s mixed doubles partner Jennie Gai, spent the year leading up to the Olympics playing in tournaments to boost their points and qualify for the games. They competed in more than 25 countries, Yuan said.

It was physically and mentally challenging, but finally making it to the Olympics and being surrounded by other athletes who worked so hard to get there reassured him, Yuan said. 

Yuan said the Olympics truly felt like the pinnacle of all the tournaments he had played up to that point. He wasn’t just playing for himself or his partner, as he had in previous competitions, he was playing for his country.

“Meeting Steph Curry, LeBron James, all these people I’ve idolized my whole life, it was a feeling I can’t recreate or replicate,” Yuan said. “And to know that I’m competing with them? As teammates? It was a feeling of awe.”

Early days

Yuan’s parents, who immigrated to the United States from China, were proud of their son and what his accomplishments represented. They felt it was an honor for Yuan to exemplify the “best parts of America” — athleticism and multiculturalism.

Yuan’s dad, David Yuan, was the first to introduce him to badminton when he was around 8 years old. He himself had played as a kid and wanted to share the hobby with his son. He never expected Yuan to be a professional athlete, he said.

Though it took him some time to really get into the sport, Yuan fell in love with badminton because it’s a perfect balance of physicality, finesse and strategy, he said. It’s like a very physical chess game, he said.

Yuan was a top player in the junior circuit from the beginning. But it wasn’t until his last year in juniors, the summer of 2021, when he felt he could truly compete with players around the world, he said.

He had a new coach, Naoko Fukuman, who moved from Japan. Fukuman changed his training regiment and mindset, and Yuan felt himself becoming better, he said.

“Badminton no longer became a hobby that I was good at, it became a professional career that I was passionate about,” Yuan said.

Olympic dreams solidify

Though he was playing professionally, Yuan and his family weren’t sure he would go to the Paris Olympics even just a few months ago, Janet Jin, Yuan’s mom, said. They supported his decision to take a year off of school to compete in tournaments, thinking it would be a good experience for him, but thought he wouldn’t try for the games until after he graduated, she said.

“It was always school first and sports as a hobby for me,” Yuan said. “Changing from that mindset to being a professional athlete, taking care of my body, being disciplined, having good time management, that was my journey this year. And it paid off.”

“In the grand scheme of things, taking a year off of college is not that big of a deal. There’s a time window for athleticism and we want to support him during it,” Jin said. “He is going back to school and will continue to train, not as intense as the last two years, but he will still try to keep up.”

During his first two years as a full-time student at the University of California, Berkeley, Yuan trained four to five times a week at Synergy Badminton Academy in Fremont. The commute was three hours round trip on BART.

It was exhausting, but knowing it was what he wanted to do helped him get through it, Yuan said. He also had friends — his future Olympic teammates — keeping him accountable, he said.

Training

Their training included sparring, drills, multifeeding and gym sessions, Yuan said. In preparation for the Olympics, they trained twice a day from Tuesday to Sunday for a total of six hours a day.

Five out of the seven badminton players representing the United States at the Paris Olympics attended UC Berkeley. Chiu and Yuan only overlapped for a year, but it was an obvious partnership, Yuan said. They were both accomplished at the sport and looking for someone to play men’s doubles with, he said.

“[Chiu] was much older, so Joshua always kind of looked up to him when they were junior players. In the last two years, when they were playing professionally together, he definitely taught Joshua a lot of things, not just about badminton,” Jin said. “I think Joshua really learned a lot from him.”

Chiu struggled to navigate the age difference at first, he said. In his previous partnerships, he had been more of a follower than a leader. But he knew he had to step up because Yuan had never played professionally before, Chiu said.

Chiu had previously tried to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics but it didn’t work out, Jin said. That experience gave him an edge to guide Yuan as they planned their world tour to try to make the Paris Olympics, she said.

On the court, Chiu said he supported Yuan psychologically, but Yuan supported him when it came to the actual game. Despite being younger, Yuan was more experienced with men’s doubles, Chiu said.

“It was tough for him to come into this Olympic run at such a young age. A part of me feels guilty that I could have been a better mentor,” Chiu said. “I think it speaks more volume to how resilient he is and how hardworking he is.”

2028 awaits

Chiu said he is proud of how much Yuan has grown as a player and a person since they started playing together. He isn’t sure whether he will try for the 2028 Olympics, but he knows that if he does, it will be with Yuan, he said.

Yuan’s short term goal is to prioritize academics and finish school. After graduating in two years, he plans to prepare for the 2028 Olympics on his home soil, he said.

“Being an Olympian has always been a dream of mine ever since I started playing,” Yuan said. “I’m very fortunate to have qualified for 2024, because I didn’t think it was possible. But it only goes up from here.”