Zeng Zhiying was born in 1966 to a mother who was a table tennis coach. She picked up a racket as soon as she could hold a paddle, joined the junior elite team at Beijing’s Military Sports School at 11 and turned professional at 12.
And like many young athletes, she dreamed of competing in the Olympics. “That was the biggest dream of my life,” she said. CNN Sports“When I was a kid, if you asked me what my dream was, I would say, ‘To be an Olympian.'”
But after a 20-year hiatus and a move from China to Chile, she finally achieved that goal this summer: Zeng made her Olympic debut in Paris at age 58, making her one of the oldest athletes in this year’s Olympics.
Despite losing 4-1 to Mariana Sahakian of Lebanon in the preliminary round on July 27, Zeng still had plenty of reason to be proud: Her husband and two adult sons were there to support her. ReutersAnd her 92-year-old father, who lives in China, witnessed his daughter’s lifelong dream come true.
“At my age, you have to play with joy, not suffering,” Zeng said. ParentsShe added that she was proud to play for Chile, where she plays under the name Tania. “I love this country. I couldn’t achieve my dream in China, but I could here. The important thing is not to give up.”
According to CNN Sports, Zeng was coached by his mother until he was 9 years old. He won a national junior championship and several regional championships before going professional. In 1983, at the age of 16, Zeng was called up to the Chinese national team, a powerhouse in the sport.
Then, a rule change in 1986 caused confusion in Zeng’s game. Previously, the two sides of the paddle could be the same color, each affecting the ball’s spin, speed, and power differently. Zeng would frequently spin his paddle to confuse his opponents.
But the “two-color rule,” which stipulated that only one side of the paddle must be black, took away her competitive advantage. “This rule ruined my game,” she said. Parents“I felt weak both mentally and technically.”
She retired from the national team 38 years ago, then moved to Chile in 1989 to coach children, and briefly started playing soccer again in 2003 when she thought her 13-year-old son was playing too many video games and wanted him to do something more active.
The strategy worked; his son developed a passion for table tennis, and Zeng remained good at it, winning several tournaments. But when his son was old enough to practice on his own, Zeng quit playing again.
For the next 20 years, she mainly ran a furniture shop in the northern Chilean city of Iquique. It wasn’t until the COVID-19 pandemic locked down the country that she picked up a paddle again. She bought a table just to get some exercise, and would play alone for hours a day.
