Khan "Bob" Malaythong (born 10 April 1981 in

Vientiane Vientiane (, ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Laos. Situated on the banks of the Mekong, Mekong River at the Thailand, Thai border, it comprises the five urban districts of Vientiane Prefecture and had a population of 840,000 ...

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

) is an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player. He qualified for the U.S. badminton team as a doubles competitor at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...

. Malaythong moved to the United States at age 8. Malaythong teamed with

Howard Bach Howard Bach (born February 22, 1979) is a Vietnamese-American male badminton player from the United States. He was the 2005 world champion in the men's doubles with Tony Gunawan. Early life He was born in Vietnam, Howard Bach came to the U.S. ...

in the men's doubles. Malaythong graduated from William Jefferson Palmer High School in

Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado Springs is the most populous city in El Paso County, Colorado, United States, and its county seat. The city had a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, a 15.02% increase since 2010 United States Census, 2 ...

and

Santa Ana College Santa Ana College is a public community college in Santa Ana, California. History In 1915, Santa Ana Junior College opened its doors to 25 students as a department of Santa Ana High School. It was the second community college founded in Orange ...

. Malaythong portrayed a Chinese badminton player in a

Vitamin Water Energy Brands, also doing business as Glacéau, is a privately owned subsidiary of the Coca-Cola Company based in Whitestone, Queens, New York, that manufactures and distributes various lines of drinks marketed as enhanced water. Founded in May 1 ...

commercial starring

David Ortiz David Américo Ortiz Arias (born November 18, 1975), nicknamed "Big Papi", is a Dominican Americans, Dominican-American former professional baseball designated hitter and first baseman who played 20 seasons in Major League Baseball from 1997 ...

and

Brian Urlacher Brian Urlacher (; born May 25, 1978) is an American former professional football linebacker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 13 seasons with the Chicago Bears. He played college football for the New Mexico Lobos, earning co ...

. Bob Malaythong won the

U.S. National Badminton Championships The U.S. National Badminton Championships is a tournament organized by USA Badminton (originally the American Badminton Association) and held annually to crown the best badminton players in the United States. The tournament started in Chicago in 1 ...

six times in the men's doubles event, in partnership with

Tony Gunawan Tony Gunawan (; born April 9, 1975) is an Indonesian-born American former badminton player. He gained several international achievements for Indonesia and later for the United States, including an Olympic gold medal and world champion title. Ca ...

in 2003 and with

in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 & 2009. He also won one mixed doubles National title with

Mesinee Mangkalakiri Mesinee "May" Mangkalakiri (; ; born April 21, 1983) is an American badminton player of Thai descent. She won a bronze medal, along with her partner Raju Rai, in the mixed doubles at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republ ...

in 2005. Malaythong now currently coaches at the Synergy Badminton Academy in Menlo Park, CA, along with fellow Olympian and long-time friend,

Raju Rai Rajiv Kumar Rai (born February 3, 1983) is an American badminton player of Indian descent. He won a bronze medal, along with his partner Mesinee Mangkalakiri, in the mixed doubles at the 2003 Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Repub ...

Achievements

Pan American Games

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Pan Am Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

BWF Grand Prix

The BWF Grand Prix has two level such as Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(BWF) since 2007. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) since 1983. ''Men's doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament :

BWF BWF may refer to: Sports organisations Badminton * Badminton World Federation, an international governing body for badminton Professional wrestling * Brazilian Wrestling Federation, a Brazilian Professional wrestling promotion. * British Wrestling ...

& IBF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF Future Series The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

References

External links

*
Malaythong's Blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Malaythong, Khan 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Vientiane Laotian emigrants to the United States American male badminton players Badminton players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for the United States Badminton players at the 2007 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in badminton Pan American Games bronze medalists for the United States in badminton Santa Ana College alumni 21st-century American sportsmen