58-Year-Old China-Born Table Tennis Player To Make Olympic Debut, Representing Chile

There are few things more inspiring than athletes achieving Olympic glory.

The Olympic Games later this month will be extra special for one table tennis star — Zhiying Zeng.

The Guangzhou-born athlete turns 58 today (Jul 17) and will be making her Olympic debut in Paris.

Table tennis has always been in Zhiying’s blood. Her mother was a table tennis coach, and had started training Zhiying in the sport at a young age.

She was selected to be a part of China’s national table tennis team at the age of 17. However, just three years later came the introduction of the “two-colour rule”, where players were required to use bi-coloured paddles.

With that, players were able to anticipate the speed and spin of their opponent’s  ball based on the surface of the paddle.

Zhiying, unable to acclimatise to the change, left the national team and retired from the sport.

Speaking to The Guardian in an interview, she said: “The rule killed my game. I felt weak, psychologically and technically.”

In 1989, she moved to Chile where she was offered a job as a coach. After she left coaching, she stayed on in the country to run a furniture business.

Zhiying never thought about trying for Chile’s national team, and it wasn’t until the pandemic that she started playing table tennis regularly again. Her passion for the sport was reignited when she started playing alone at home during the country’s lockdown.

After retiring from the sport for over 20 years, Zhiying proved she still had the chops when she won bronze alongside her team as part of the table tennis women’s team segment at the Pan-American Games 2023.

She was the oldest athlete in the entire tournament, and quickly gained widespread popularity in the country.

Her outstanding performances in local tournaments – she finished top eight in the Americas region – led her to qualify for the national team and she will represent Chile at the Paris Olympics.

Zhiying currently trains at the Santiago de Chile sports complex for three hours on weekdays, revealing she now gets “shoulder aches” if she plays too much.

“At my age, you have to play with happiness, not anguish. I love this country. I didn’t reach my dream in China, and I have here. It’s important not to give up.”

How cool is she?