Four-time Olympic medallist Timo Boll bows out of 'emotional' final table tennis competition at Paris 2024
The time has come for Timo Boll to call a close to his decorated 30-year table tennis career, officially retiring after being knocked out of Paris 2024.
Boll announced in May that the Olympic Games would be his final international tournament, having now made seven Olympic appearances dating back to Sydney 2000.
The German saw his career come to an end in the quarter-final in the French capital, a 3-0 team competition defeat to Sweden. His final match was a 3-1 singles defeat to competitor and friend Anton Kallberg on 6 August.
Timo Boll bids farewell to the sport as an international - he will play club table tennis for at least one more season.
Timo Boll: “It was hard emotionally”
Speaking after the final match of his international career, he said, “It was hard. During the match, and immediately after the match, you're feeling some disappointment, but to receive such feedback from the audience afterwards, it was really special and overwhelming. It was hard emotionally.”
Boll lost 3-1 in his final singles match for Germany and 3-0 in his last doubles match, playing alongside teammate Qiu Dang, at the start of the day.
“I stayed here for quite a long time,” Boll explained, “I think I'm still the oldest No.1 in the world. I've stayed maybe 25 years in the top five, top 10 area and this is my biggest achievement to be resilient against everything, against the changes we had in the past.
“But finally, you feel that your body is too slow and it's getting harder and harder to keep the level so high. So I think it was the right moment to finish.”
Timo Boll bids farewell after 30 years
Boll played at his seventh and final Olympic Games at Paris 2024, becoming only the sixth table tennis player to achieve that feat.
He won a silver medal in team table tennis at Beijing 2008, before winning consecutive bronze medals in the same event. Boll’s last Olympic medal was at Tokyo 2020 held three years ago, a second silver and a fourth overall in the team event.
It brings an end to an illustrious international career spanning three decades, including every Summer Olympic Games of the 21st century.
Boll will continue playing domestic table tennis though, contracted to at least one more season with his club back home, Borussia Dusseldorf.