Deng Yaping facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Deng Yaping
Deng Yaping at Summer Olympics 1996
Personal information
Native name	邓亚萍
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1973-02-06) 6 February 1973 (age 52) Zhengzhou, Henan, China
Height	1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Medal record Women's table tennis Representing  China Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 0 0 World Championships 9 5 0 World Cup 5 0 1 Olympic Games Gold 1992 Barcelona Singles Gold 1992 Barcelona Doubles Gold 1996 Atlanta Singles Gold 1996 Atlanta Doubles World Championships Gold 1989 Dortmund Doubles Gold 1991 Chiba City Singles Gold 1993 Gothenburg Team Gold 1995 Tianjin Singles Gold 1995 Tianjin Doubles Gold 1995 Tianjin Team Gold 1997 Manchester Singles Gold 1997 Manchester Doubles Gold 1997 Manchester Team Silver 1991 Chiba City Doubles Silver 1991 Chiba City Team Silver 1993 Gothenburg Doubles Silver 1995 Tianjin Mixed Doubles Silver 1997 Manchester Mixed Doubles World Cup Gold 1990 Hokkaido, Aomori, Niig Team Gold 1991 Barcelona Team Gold 1995 Atlanta Team Gold 1992 Las Vegas Doubles Gold 1996 Hong Kong Singles Bronze 1990 Seoul Doubles Asian Championships Gold 1994 Tianjin Singles Gold 1994 Tianjin Mixed Doubles Gold 1994 Tianjin Team Silver 1994 Tianjin Doubles

Deng Yaping (Chinese: 邓亚萍; pinyin: Dèng Yàpíng) is a famous Chinese table tennis player. She was born on February 6, 1973, in Zhengzhou, Henan, China. Deng Yaping is known as one of the greatest table tennis players ever. She won an amazing eighteen world championships, including four Olympic gold medals, between 1989 and 1997.

Becoming a Table Tennis Champion

Deng Yaping started playing table tennis when she was just five years old. By the time she was nine, she had already won the junior championship in her home province. At 13, she achieved her first national championship title.

Even with all her early success, Deng Yaping was initially not allowed to join the national team. This was because she was quite short, standing at only 1.5 meters (4 feet 11 inches) tall. But her talent was too big to ignore! She finally joined the national team in 1988.

First Big Wins

In 1989, Deng Yaping won her first world championship title. She teamed up with Qiao Hong in the women's doubles competition. Just two years later, in 1991, she won her first singles world championship. This showed everyone she was a force to be reckoned with!

Olympic Glory

Deng Yaping truly shined at the Olympic Games.

• At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she won a gold medal in both the singles and doubles events.
• She repeated this amazing achievement at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA, winning gold in both singles and doubles again.

She also won many singles and doubles titles at the World Championships in 1995 and 1997.

A Record-Breaking Career

When Deng Yaping retired at the age of 24, she had won more titles than any other player in table tennis history. This included four Olympic gold medals and 18 World Champion titles! From 1990 to 1997, she was ranked the world's number one female table tennis player for eight years straight. In 2003, she was honored by joining the International Table Tennis Federation Hall of Fame. She was even voted the Chinese female athlete of the century.

Major Successes

Here are some of Deng Yaping's incredible achievements:

• *1989 World Table Tennis Championship:* Women's Double Gold
• *1990 Table Tennis World Cup:* Women's Team Gold
• *1991 World Table Tennis Championship:* Women's Single Gold, Women's Team Silver, Women's Double Silver
• *1991–1992 Table Tennis World Cup:* Women's Team Gold, Women's Double Gold
• *1992 Olympic Games:* Table Tennis Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold
• *1993 World Table Tennis Championship:* Women's Team Gold, Women's Double Silver
• *1995 World Table Tennis Championship:* Women's Team Gold, Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold, Mixed Double Silver
• *1995 Table Tennis World Cup:* Women's Team Gold
• *1996 Olympic Games:* Table Tennis Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold
• *1996 Table Tennis World Cup:* Women's Single Gold
• *1997 World Table Tennis Championship:* Women's Team Gold, Women's Single Gold, Women's Double Gold, Mixed Double Silver

Life After Playing Table Tennis

After she stopped playing professionally in 1997, Deng Yaping continued to be involved in sports. She served on important committees for the International Olympic Committee, which helps organize the Olympic Games. She is also a member of the Laureus World Sports Academy, a group of famous athletes who promote sports for good.

Deng Yaping also focused on her education. She earned a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University in China. Then, she studied in the United Kingdom, getting a master's degree from the University of Nottingham in 2002. Later, she earned a PhD degree from the famous University of Cambridge in 2008. Her PhD research was about how the Olympic Games use branding and marketing. This work helped her when she was part of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In 2007, she married Lin Zhigang, who was also a table tennis player, and they later had a son.

Deng Yaping still talks about table tennis in the media and has even been a commentator for matches. In 2013, she received an honorary degree from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.

See also

In Spanish: Deng Yaping para niños