He also won the men's singles gold medal when badminton was a demonstration sport at the 1988 Summer Olympics.

He possessed great agility, quick footwork, accurate power, and coolness under pressure, and is widely regarded as one of the finest singles players in the history of the sport.

In the late 80s he dominated international singles play, winning the World Championships over Morten Frost in 1987 and over young Ardy Wiranata in 1989.

In 1989 he added the venerable All-England Championships to his tally; thus, by twenty-five, he captured all the titles by which "greatness" in the sport is generally measured.

As a member of China's golden badminton generation of the 1980s which included the almost equally brilliant singles stars Zhao Jianhua and Xiong Guobao, Yang Yang played an important role in making China the major world badminton superpower.