Deng Yaping:Icing a Ping Pong Legend

by Qiao Zhenqi

Deng Yaping is arguably one of the greatest female Chinese table tennis players in history. Her many titles include Chinese first grand slam champion， the world’s top female player for eight consecutive years， and 18-time world champion. But few are aware that Deng is also an avid skier. In fact， her 21 years of skiing experience is longer than her 14-year table tennis career. She started skiing in the year 2000 and now excels at the sport.“I can ski almost any run，” she said. “Skiing is really fun！ It makes you brave at heart.”

Deng was known for her strong mentality and iron will as a ping pong player， which helped her overcome obstacles and meet with challenges in various arenas after retiring from competition. Skiing， a romantic and thrilling sport， is a nice fit for Deng’s personality marked by fearlessness， vigor， and mental strength.

Olympian Enjoyment

Deng prefers to be identified as an Olympian over an Olympic champion. Beyond the motto“Faster， Higher， Stronger—Together，” she believes the core mission of the Olympics is to engage more people in sports events， so simply participating in the Olympic Games is already a big victory. “I hope more people become sports lovers.” She would also like to see the community of Olympians expand.

Deng clinched gold in both singles and doubles in the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and repeated the feat at the Atlanta Games four years later. She also worked for 13 years as a member of several International Olympic Committee （IOC） commissions. During this period， she helped twice the work on China’s Olympics bids， one of which resulted in the 2008 Beijing Games.

At the 2008 Beijing Olympics， Deng served as vice director of Olympic Village， a position considered the “great steward”for more than 20，000 players， coaches， and officials. She likened it to “completing a circle.”

“When I was a player， many helped me fulfill my sports dream and win honor for my motherland. In 2008， I had the opportunity to pay some of that back and serve Olympic delegations from 204 countries and regions by supporting their needs in terms of clothes， food， accommodations， and travel at the Games.”

Sports celebrities like Deng are heavily involved in the promotion of ice and snow sports and the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. She experienced skiing at the “Consumer Goods”exhibition area of the fourth China International Import Expo in November 2021 and visited the Olympic Village to try the facilities and services there on the occasion of the 30-day countdown to the Beijing Winter Olympic Games. In addition， she has constantly voiced support for the Winter Games and its athletes on social media platforms.