The Chinese Table Tennis Association announced the list of national table tennis players to participate in the Paris Olympics. Veteran Malone was once again named to the squad. This is Malone's fourth Olympic appearance. He will make some new history.
In the international table tennis world, there are many table tennis players who have participated in four or more Olympic Games, but it is difficult for national table tennis players to participate in four Olympic Games.
There are too many high-level players in the national table tennis team, so the replacement is also fast. Many athletes retire around the age of 30. For example, Malone has been almost 36 years old before he can participate in four Olympic Games. He competed at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo.
In the history of national table tennis, there are five people who have participated in three Olympic Games, namely Wang Nan, Kong Linghui, Wang Hao, Wang Liqin, and Guo Yue.
In the first three Olympic Games, Ma Long won a total of 5 gold medals, including 2 singles gold medals and 3 team gold medals. Ma Long is the player who has won the most Olympic gold medals in national table tennis and even in international table tennis. With the strength of national table tennis, he will definitely be able to win the men's team gold medal at the Paris Olympics. Then the number of Olympic gold medals in Malone will reach 6. This is a record that is difficult to surpass in table tennis.
In the history of national table tennis, Deng Yaping, Wang Nan and Zhang Yining have won four Olympic gold medals. Ma Lin and Zhang Jike only won 3 gold medals.
The Olympic Games are held every four years, and it will certainly be difficult for foreign athletes to reach Ma Long's record. It's hard for them to win a gold medal. It is also very difficult for the national table tennis team members to win five gold medals. Sun Yingsha has already won a gold medal in the women's team. She has three games this year and if she's lucky, she could win three gold medals. Then Sun Yingsha's total number of gold medals can reach four. Sun Yingsha is still young and fully ready to participate in the 2028 Olympics. By that time, Sun Yingsha was already 28 years old, and she didn't know how many competitions she could participate in. If she can compete in three more events, she could have six or more medals overall. But that's all unknown. If Sasha makes it to the 2032 Olympics, she still has the potential to surpass Malone in the number of gold medals, but that will be difficult.
Wang Chuqin also wore three at the Paris Olympics and could win three gold medals. Wang Chuqin is about the same age as Sun Yingsha and is expected to participate in the 2028 Olympics, but it is difficult to say whether he will be able to participate in three more competitions.
In short, it is very difficult for a table tennis player to win six gold medals.
Malone also has some records that are difficult to beat. It is very difficult for a table tennis player to achieve a Grand Slam, let alone a double Grand Slam. Malone is a double-lap Grand Slam. In the international table tennis world, only Ma Long and Zhang Yining have achieved a double-lap Grand Slam. In the future, table tennis competitions will become more and more competitive, and it will be too difficult to achieve a grand slam.
Malone has another record that is even more difficult to surpass. He has won 30 world titles, six more than Wang Nan, who is in second place. The number of Marlon's world titles will increase. His record will be difficult to surpass.
Ma Long is worthy of the GOAT in table tennis, and the records he has set are insurmountable.
Wang Hao, head coach of the national table tennis men's team, spoke highly of Ma Long. Wang Hao said that Ma Long has participated in many Olympic Games and won three men's team and two men's singles championships. In the past year, Ma Long's performance in various competitions is also obvious to all, and he is fully qualified to be the third person in the group.
In fact, fans also want Ma Long to participate in the men's singles competition. When the Table Tennis Association announced that Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong had qualified for the men's singles at the Paris Olympics, and Ma Long only qualified for the men's team, many fans felt regretful. Ma Long is in very good form right now, winning the men's singles title at the Singles World Cup last month. If Ma Long can participate in the men's singles competition at the Paris Olympics, he is expected to win the men's singles gold medal again. Then he could achieve a three-lap Grand Slam, which would be an even more difficult record to surpass.
It's just that Ma Long's Olympic selection points are less than Wang Chuqin and Fan Zhendong, and it is a pity to lose the men's singles qualification for the Paris Olympics.