Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center, 31 July 1996, Games of the XXVI Olympiad: Yaping DENG of China in action during the table tennis final against Jing CHEN of Chinese Taipei. Yaping DENG went on to win the gold medal. |
The biggest obstacle in Deng Yaping's Table Tennis career was not her opponents, but her height. When she was 9 years old she won a provincial junior championship but was denied a place on the provincial team because she was too short. In 1988, when she was 13 years old, Deng won the national championship, but was refused a spot on the national team because she was too short. The national coaching staff finally gave in and, in 1989, Deng, still only 16 years old, teamed with Qiao Hong to win the doubles title at the world championships. In 1991, by which time she had topped out at 1.49 meters tall, Deng defeated Li Bun-hui of North Korea to win the singles world championship. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Deng and Qiao won the doubles title. In the final they beat their Chinese teammates, Chen Zihe and Gao Jun 21-13, 14-21, 21-14, 21-19. Two days later, Deng and Qiao faced each other in the singles final. Deng won the first two games easily, 21-6 and 21-8. Then Qiao caught fire and won the next game 21-15 and was leading game four 19-17, when Deng regained control and won 23-21 to earn her second gold medal. Deng and Qiao successfully defended their doubles title in 1996, but not without difficulty. In the quarterfinals they received a stiff challenge from Chen Jing (former Chinese player) and Chen Chiu-Tan from Chinese Taipei. The Chens took the first game 21-18, but Deng and Qiao won the next two 21-16 and 21-19. In the fourth game, Chen and Chen staved off a match point before winning 24-22. In the fifth game it was Deng and Qiao who fought off two match points and then went on to win 23-21. After a slow start, Deng and Qiao won 18-21, 25-23, 22-20, 21-14. Two days later, Deng played the final against Chen Jing, who had won the 1988 Olympic gold medal. Deng won the first two games 21-14 and 21-17. Chen came back to take games three and four 22-20 and 21-17. In the fifth game, Deng broke open a 2-2 tie by scoring nine straight points and Chen was never able to recover. Deng won 21-5 and earned her fourth gold medal. 
Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center, 29 July 1996, Games of the XXVI Olympiad: the women's table tennis doubles final: Wei LIU (n°213) and Yunping QIAO (n°212) of China against Hong QIAO (left) and Yaping DENG (right) of China. The latter pair went on to win the gold medal. Credit: Getty Images/Doug Pensinger |
Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center, 29 July 1996, Games of the XXVI Olympiad: the women's table tennis doubles final: Wei LIU (n°213) and Yunping QIAO (n°212) of China against Yaping DENG (left) and Hong QIAO (right) of China. The latter pair went on to win the gold medal. Credit: Getty Images/Doug Pensinger |
Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center, 31 July 1996, Games of the XXVI Olympiad: Yaping DENG of China in action during the table tennis final against Jing CHEN of Chinese Taipei. Yaping DENG went on to win the gold medal. Credit: Getty Images/Rick Stewart |
Atlanta, Georgia World Congress Center, 31 July 1996, Games of the XXVI Olympiad: medal ceremony for the women's table tennis singles: (L-R) Jing CHEN of Chinese Taipei, silver medallist, Yaping DENG of China, gold medallist, and Hong QIAO of China, bronze medallist. Credit: Getty Images |
Olympic Museum, Lausanne, 8 June 1998: a table tennis exhibition with Chinese Olympic champion Yaping DENG and IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections/Jean-Jacques Strahm |
Lausanne, 8 June 1998: the Olympic table tennis champion from China signing autographs during her visit to the Olympic Museum. Credit: IOC Olympic Museum Collections/Jean-Paul Maeder |
Credit: IOC
For further info., please visit http://www.olympic.org/uk/athletes/profiles/bio_uk.asp?par_i_id=68047.
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