Playing in the semifinals of the 2008 Olympics
Lee kicked off 2008 with success, capturing his fourth Malaysia Open title in five years. However, Lee only captured one other title that year, the Singapore Open, which was the final tournament in his pre-Olympic preparations. Other tournaments he took part in were th Korea Open; the All England Open; the Swiss Open; the Badminton Asia Championships; and Thomas Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia where Lee helped Malaysia advance to the semi-final. In the semi-final he defeated Lin Dan to give Malaysia a 1–0 lead in its clash with defending champion China, but Malaysia eventually lost 2–3 due to the defeat of its first doubles team in the vital final match.

In the 2008 Olympic Games, Lee was given a bye in the first round. He cruised to straight game victories over Ronald Susilo in the second round, Kęstutis Navickas in the third round, and Sony Dwi Kuncoro in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals Lee Hyun-ilgave him a tough fight, but eventually Lee was able to beat the South Korean and reach the final. However, it was a one-sided final, as Lee was completely outplayed by Lin Dan and salvaged only 20 points, losing 12–21, 8–21. He came second place overall.

Lee participated in several tournaments after the Olympic Games without capturing a title. He advanced to the finals of the Japan Open, the Macau Open and the China Open, but lost to Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Taufik Hidayat, and Lin Dan respectively. In the French Open Lee was eliminated in the semi-finals. His coach, Misbun Sidek, cited the pressure of being ranked world number one to explain Lee's recent failure to capture a title.

Lee ended his last Super Series tournament of the year, the Hong Kong Open, with a sudden withdrawal due to a knee injury, conceding a walkover to Germany’s Marc Zwiebler. His last minute withdrawal led to the Chinese media tagging him as the "weakest world number one". The Chinese media speculated that three factors had hampered Lee's performance since the Olympic Games: the stress of the Olympic final, a phobia of Lin Dan due to his lopsided Olympic defeat at Lin's hands, and (echoing Misbun Sidek's conjecture) the pressure of being the world number one.

Despite Lee's difficulties in international play, he recorded his seventh consecutive victory at the National Badminton Grand Prix Final in Kedah on 12 December 2008, thus breaking the record of six consecutive titles set by Misbun Sidek. Lee ended the year with a title in the Super Series Masters Finals. However, Lin Dan and China's other top players did not compete, their association citing injuries and fatigue.

2011[edit]
2008[edit]
2015[edit]
Achievements[edit]