 Deng Yaping in 2023 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Native name | 邓亚萍 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Chinese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1973-02-05)5 February 1973 (age 52) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Sport | Table tennis | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Deng Yaping (Chinese:邓亚萍;pinyin:Dèng Yàpíng; born February 5, 1973) is a Chinesetable tennis player, who won eighteen world championships including fourOlympic championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.
Deng was born inZhengzhou,Henan, on February 5, 1973.[1]
Deng began playing table tennis aged five, and four years later she won the provincial junior championship. She was age 13 when she won her first national championship.
Despite her success, she was initially denied a spot on the national team because she was so short (she stood only 1.5 metres [4 feet 11 inches] tall). She was finally included on the national team in 1988. She teamed withQiao Hong to win her first world championship title in the women's doubles competition in 1989. Two years later in 1991, Deng won her first singles world championship.
At the1992 Olympics inBarcelona, Spain, she won a gold medal in both the singles and doubles competitions and repeated the feat at the1996 Olympics inAtlanta,USA. She also earned singles and doubles titles at the 1995 and 1997 world championships.
When she retired at the age of 24, she had won more titles than any other player in this sport, including fourOlympic gold medals, and had been World Champion 18 times. From 1990 to 1997, she retained the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years. She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined theInternational Table Tennis FederationHall of Fame in 2003.
Deng is still deeply involved with the national Chinese table tennis scene and frequently speaks to the media. She also was a color-commentator for the Women's World Cup in 2020.[2] In June 2021, Deng claimed that Mima Ito was not a serious threat to the Chinese women's Olympic hopes.[3]
Deng was the CEO of Jike Search, a state-runsearch engine.[4] Jike Search failed in 2013.[4]
After retiring at the end of the 1997 season, Deng served on theInternational Olympic Committee's ethics and athletes commissions. She is also a member of the eliteLaureus World Sports Academy, and a member of theChinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
She gained abachelor's degree fromTsinghua University, anMRes degree inContemporary Chinese Studies from theUniversity of Nottingham in 2002,[5] and aPhD degree inLand Economy from theUniversity of Cambridge (Jesus College) in 2008.[6] Her thesis title is: "Olympic branding and global competition: the case of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games".[7] Her research work coincides with her professional focus on the marketing, management and development of the2008 Beijing Olympics as a member of theBeijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.
In 2007, she marriedLin Zhigang, also a table tennis player, and later gave birth to a baby boy.
In 2010, she attracted controversy due to comments she made. A student asked her, "how can one get promoted quickly?" She answered, "when your personal value overlaps with the interests of the state, your value will be enlarged without limit."[8] Later, she also said, "In the 62 years since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, thePeople's Daily have not published a single piece of fake news."[8]
In 2013, she was awarded an honoraryDLitt degree from theUniversity of Nottingham Ningbo China.[5][9]
