Ma Long's golden Olympic bow: Assessing the Chinese legend's impact on table tennis

With the People's Republic of China's triumph in the Paris 2024 men's team table tennis event on Friday (9 August), the curtain appears to have come down on a legendary Olympic career.

Chinese national team captain Ma Long seems likely to have played his last Olympic final, winning a record-extending sixth career Olympic gold. No other table tennis player has more than four.

The 35-year-old had already announced earlier this year that he will not play at any more World Championships, and with the next generation of Chinese players having already made their mark, Ma seems unlikely to continue playing through to LA 2028, even suggesting in the post-event press conference that this was the end of a journey.

If this is indeed it for Ma on an Olympic stage, he will have left his mark on table tennis at the Olympics. Having played at four Olympic Games and countless more World Championships, Ma's impact on the sport as one of the greatest – if not the greatest – of all time is undisputed.

Olympics.com asked Ma's contemporaries, both from China and around the world, to try to explain the impact he had on them and the sport.

Ma Long, the inspiration and role model who overcame hurdles

Within the Chinese team, Ma's status as captain has permeated all levels, from the juniors through to the national team, and on both the men's and women's side.

Such is his reach and the level of respect accorded to Ma that he was chosen as China's male flagbearer for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony.

As the two-time women's singles Olympic champion Chen Meng said to Olympics.com and World Table Tennis last year: "I will always be able to learn a lot from (Ma) Long: his focus on and dedication to his career, his never-give-up and never-say-die attitude once he is on court.

"I've really learned a lot from him, including learning to take on kind of a responsibility in the team. He has been a great role model."

Men's world number one Wang Chuqin, nearly 12 years Ma's junior, agrees.

"There are many things he does that I cannot and there are many things to learn from him.

"His journey in the World Championships, when he finally won in 2015, and then his performance in 2019 just three months after knee surgery. He is an inspirational leader in spirit. When you feel tired or have lost confidence, he is the one you look to.

"He wasn't a dazzling player at the start, he was just a main player with good talent but wasn't achieving much.

"But with his perseverance and spirit, he got there. Not only does he give up or give in, he also has a strong desire and attitude towards every match, every set, every point he plays."

Ma Long, the greatest of all time?

While Ma hasn't yet indicated he will retire immediately and will continue to play in tour events and national competitions, his major Championships career has come to an end with glory.

"I consider the Paris Olympics to be the final stop in my career, so I'm very happy to end it on such a perfect note," he said. "However, life has a long road ahead, not just Paris."

Could coaching be the next step?

"I haven't thought about it yet. I believe there are already many excellent coaches in the Chinese team. However, I won't rule out the possibility in the future. It's hard to say right now.

"I've been focused on the competition during this period. If there comes a day when I can truly settle down, I might take some time to carefully think about the path ahead."

He goes out as the greatest international table tennis player of all time: six Olympic gold medals, 14 World Championships titles (to go with one silver and four bronzes), and 11 World Cup gold medals. No one else, male or female, comes close to that level of dominance.

That record is what often gets picked up when you ask international players for their opinion on him: that, simply, he is the best of all time.

"Ma Long has the best career any table tennis player has ever had," Simon Gauzy of France told Olympics.com after the semi-finals, in which France lost to China.

"In my opinion, he is the GOAT (greatest of all time). I am sad to see him leaving," the Frenchman added. "He's a very charismatic guy, very humble as well. I like him a lot."

French national team coach Nathanaël Molin, who has trained the Lebrun brothers Alexis and Félix since they were young, added his praise: "For me, Ma Long is a legend – the best player who had the best results of the world.

"I don't know how many medals he has in the Olympics and the World Championships and for me, the best player of all time."

Will Ma Long's biggest impact come after he leaves?

But, in a way, maybe Ma's biggest impact will come if he does indeed decide that Paris 2024 was his last Olympic Games and major Championships event.

For the Chinese men's team will no doubt be poorer without the legend involved, given his experience and influence on the team.

"It's almost better," Gauzy admitted. "Because it's very hard to play against him! We have maybe more chances without him (around).

"I'm honoured to have played against him so many times – I came close to beating him one time, but never did it."