Table Tennis

How do you picture yourself aged 61? Standing on Copacabana beach, wearing the colours of your nation to the backdrop of the famous, blue-hazed mountains of Rio de Janeiro and about to take part in your fifth Olympic Summer Games?
How about, aged 66, having your face displayed on one

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 04:  Mary Hanna, Australian Equestrian Dressage competitor and the oldest member of the Australian poses with Aislin Jones, Australian Shooter and the youngest member of the Australian Olympic Team on Ipanema Beach on August 4, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)

Mary Hanna Australia equestrian

Four ageless Olympians eyeing Paris 2024

Ni Xialian didn't imagine she would be playing at the Olympics.
It was 1983, and table tennis wasn't yet an Olympic sport. (It would make its Olympic debut five years later at Seoul 1988.)
Instead, Ni, then 20 years old, focused on the biggest prize in the sport at the

Xia Lian NI

Ni Xialian celebrating a win at Rio 2016 (Reuters)

Ni Xialian: How 1983 world champion made it to fifth Olympics aged 56

United States of America

Simone

Simone Biles - Olympics.com

Sweden

Armand

Armand Duplantis - Olympics.com

Mikaela

Mikaela SHIFFRIN

Ilia

Ilia Malinin - Olympics.com

Xia Lian

As the table tennis ball drifted off the side of the table on the last point of the first-round match of the women's individual competition at Olympic Games Paris 2024, Luxembourg's Ni Xia Lian beamed as the crowd roared their approval.
The 61-year-old, competing at her sixth Olympic Games, had

Paris 2024 | Olympic Games

Xia Lian Ni of Luxembourg competes at Paris 2024, her fifth Olympic Games

Ni Xia Lian, 61, wins table tennis first round at sixth Olympics

Ni Xialian has seen and experienced it all.
The 59-year-old has been playing table tennis for over 50 years, including nearly 40 at the very top level. She made her World Table Tennis Championships debut in 1983, and has gone on to play in 23 editions of the World Championships.

Ni Xialian 2022 World Champs

Ni Xialian: An inspiration for all generations

"My heart is very young" the table tennis pioneer told Olympic Channel, as she looks ahead to another major tournament appearance. Before moving to Luxembourg in the 1980s, Ni won two doubles world titles with China in Tokyo. She'll return to the Japanese capital in 2021, having qualified for her fifth Olympics representing the European nation. Ni turns 58 in July, making her the oldest table tennis player in Olympic history, and she could be the oldest athlete at the Games in any sport. The veteran table tennis player relishes her many nicknames: Mummy, sister, auntie, teacher, coach, and shares what she's most looking forward to during this next career landmark.

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Meet Ni Xialian, preparing to make Olympic history aged 58

Indian table tennis superstar Manika Batra didn’t disappoint fans on the opening day of the ITTF Portugal Open as she beat Daniela Ortega in the round of 64 before going on to dominate Xia Lian Ni in the next round.
Sreeja Akula braved it out in an exciting seven game

Manika Batra was the sole Indian table tennis star to make it to the round of 16 in the Portugal Open

Manika Batra keeps Indian hopes alive in Portugal Open

In 1983, Ni Xialian was a 20-year-old Chinese table tennis player. She won gold in the mixed doubles and women's team events at the World Championships in Tokyo. Next year in 2020, she will return to the Japanese capital, as a 57-year-old representing Luxembourg in her fifth Olympic Games. She tells Olympic Channel her story.

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Xia Lian NI

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Four ageless Olympians eyeing Paris 2024

Ni Xialian: How 1983 world champion made it to fifth Olympics aged 56

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