Paris, France, August 11, 2024: Over 15 days of competition at South Paris Arena 4, the March of the Volunteers rang five times, the Chinese national anthem a resounding reminder of the NOC’s supremacy in table tennis.
China topped the podium in all five events, the sixth sweep of titles since table tennis joined the Olympic roster in 1988. The mixed doubles gold is arguably its most prized possession this time, given how the Chinese were upset by Japan when the event made its debut at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
In the men’s singles, Fan Zhendong was crowned champion to complete a career grand slam of titles at the Olympic Games, world championships and World Cup.
Sun Yingsha, however, will have to embark on another Olympic cycle to achieve her own collection of major titles. The world No.1 was beaten by Chen Meng in a repeat of the Tokyo 2020 women’s singles final, once again settling for silver.
In the women’s team event, the pecking order remained largely unchanged, with China and Japan taking the one-two for a second straight Games. Korea claimed bronze.
Paris 2024 was also the Olympic swansong of Ma Long, widely considered the sport’s greatest of all time. He went out on a high as part of China’s gold-winning team.
Ma, 35, won his sixth Olympic gold medal – two in singles (Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020) and four in men’s team.