Table Tennis

Table tennis was developed in the late 19th century, though its origins are not well documented. Several different sources for its invention are credited, but the modern game is said to have started with the introduction of the celluloid ball, circa 1891. This development can be attributed to Englishman James Gibb, a world-record holding distance runner, who discovered the celluloid ball during a visit to America. This ensured the success of the game as a domestic pastime, initially known as ping pong, from which a competitive game emerged.

The sport is widely practiced throughout the world. However, it made an unusual entry into the Olympic Programme. Table tennis made its Olympic début as a full medal sport in 1988 at Seoul. It had never been contested at the Olympics as a demonstration sport, which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) then usually required of new sports.

Men and women compete in four Olympic events, singles and teams. A mixed doubles event also débuted at Tokyo 2020. Since the late 1950s, China has been by far the dominant factor in table tennis. As of 2024, the nation has won 66 medals in all, and 37 of the 42 Olympic table tennis titles, with the remaining ones going to South Korea (3), Japan (1), and Sweden (1).

Chinese Ma Long leads the men’s medal table in this sport as of 2024, with six medals, all gold. He participated in six events from 2012-2024, winning every single one of them. German Dimitrij Ovtcharov has also had six podium positions, but no gold. Three other male Chinese players follow Ma Long in the gold medal count – Zhang Jike, Fan Zhendong, and Ma Lin –, each with three golds.

On the women’s competition, Chinese players Wang Nan, Deng Yaping, Zhang Yining, and Chen Meng have all won four Olympic titles. Wang Nan also leads the overall medal count, with a total of five medals, the same number as her compatriot Sun Yingsha.

The Chinese dominance has become a problem for the sport, with many of the non-Chinese competitors having been born in China and having changed allegiance for various reasons. The replacement of the doubles events by the team event was intended to give other nations an opportunity to compete for the medals, which has had only marginal success.

The governing body of the sport is the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF), which was formed in 1926, with nine founding members: Austria, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, England, Germany, Hungary, India, Sweden, and Wales. As of 2024, the ITTF had 227 member associations.