Jan-Ove Waldner
Encyclopedia
Jan-Ove Waldner is a Swedish table tennis
Table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight, hollow ball back and forth using table tennis rackets. The game takes place on a hard table divided by a net...

 player. He is known as "the Mozart of table tennis" and is a legend in his native Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 as well as in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

. In China he is known as 老瓦 Lao Wa - "Old Wa(ldner)" or 常青树 Chang Qing Shu - "Evergreen". He is widely considered to be the greatest player of all time.

Biography

Waldner's potential was recognized at an early age and was displayed in 1982 as a 16-year-old when he reached the final of the European Championship, losing to teammate Mikael Appelgren
Mikael Appelgren
Mikael Appelgren is a Swedish table tennis player. He was 4-times World Champion, 9-times European Champion, 2-times Europe Top-12 winner, and World Cup winner....

. When he was young, he, along with other Swedish players, went to a training camp in China and was amazed by their dedication and claims he learned much during his stay.
In China, a country that loves table tennis, he is the best-known Swede and a well-known sports personality. In the 1990s he was more recognized in China than Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...

. Waldner is referred to as "the evergreen tree", "Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan is a former American professional basketball player, active entrepreneur, and majority owner of the Charlotte Bobcats...

 of Table tennis" and "Old Wald", and people often flock to see him when he comes.

As of 2010, Waldner has been playing high-level table tennis for some 30 years, which is unusual in the table tennis world where hand-eye coordination and quick reactions are essential factors. Some young Chinese players that he has recently played against are trained by those he played against in the 1990s, who were in turn trained by others he played against in the 1980s.
Today he plays for TTC Rhön-Sprudel Fulda-Maberzell in the German Bundesliga. He received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal
Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal
The Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal is an annual award "for the most significant Swedish sports achievement of the year". It has been awarded by a jury led by the Swedish morning paper Svenska Dagbladet since 1925. According to its statutes the Medal may be awarded in November or December to either...

 in 1992.

He is one of seven active table tennis players to have competed at the first five Olympics since the sport was introduced to the Games in 1988. The others are Swede Jörgen Persson
Jörgen Persson
Jörgen Persson is a Swedish table tennis player. In two memorable World Table Tennis Championships finals he faced fellow Swede Jan-Ove Waldner in 1989 and 1991, losing the former and winning the latter....

, Croatian Zoran Primorac
Zoran Primorac
Zoran Primorac is an accomplished male table tennis player from Croatia. He is considered to be among the best European players in the last 25 years .-Biography:Primorac was born in Zadar and started playing...

, Belgian Jean-Michel Saive
Jean-Michel Saive
Jean-Michel Saive is a Belgian professional table tennis player.Born in Liège in a table tennis playing family, Saive was predestined to become a very good table tennis player and began playing as a small boy...

, Hungarian Csilla Bátorfi
Csilla Bátorfi
Csilla Bátorfi is a Hungarian table tennis player. She competed at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1988 to 2004. She won several titles in European Championships....

, Serbian-American Ilija Lupulesku
Ilija Lupulesku
Ilija Lupulesku is a former Yugoslav and now Serbian table tennis player who competed in the 1988 Summer Olympics, in the 1992 Summer Olympics, in the 1996 Summer Olympics, in the 2000 Summer Olympics, and in the 2004 Summer Olympics. He compeeted for USA from 2004 to 2006 including 2004 Summer...

, and German Jörg Roßkopf.

In 2010 Waldner won his ninth Swedish championship against Pär Gerell, born the same year Waldner became Swedish champion for the first time.

World championships

  • 1983 Silver medal in team competition
  • 1985 Silver medal in team competition
  • 1987 Silver medal in single, silver medal in team competition
  • 1989 Gold medal in single, gold medal in team competition
  • 1991 Silver medal in single, gold medal in team competition
  • 1993 Bronze medal in single, gold medal in team competition
  • 1995 Silver medal in team competition
  • 1997 Gold medal in single (21-0 in games), silver medal in double
  • 1999 Bronze medal in single
  • 2000 Gold medal in team competition

Olympic Games

  • 1988
    Table tennis at the 1988 Summer Olympics
    Table tennis was first included in the Olympic program at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, with four events contested.-Medal summary:-Medal table:...

     Final 8 in single, final 8 in double
  • 1992
    Table tennis at the 1992 Summer Olympics
    The table tennis competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics consisted of four events.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:**...

     Gold medal in single, first round in double
  • 1996
    Table tennis at the 1996 Summer Olympics
    The table tennis competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics consisted of four events.-Medal table:-Medal summary:-Controversy:During the women's singles final match between the People's Republic of China and Chinese Taipei , police arrested two Taiwanese spectators for waving the flag of the Republic...

     Final 16 in single, final 8 in double
  • 2000
    Table tennis at the 2000 Summer Olympics
    The table tennis competition at the 2000 Summer Olympics consisted of four events.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...

     Silver medal in single, final 16 in double
  • 2004
    Table tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics
    thumb|rightTable tennis at the 2004 Summer Olympics took place in the Galatsi Olympic Hall with 172 competitors in 4 events.-Medal summary:-Medal table:-References:*...

     Fourth in single, final 8 in double

European Championships

  • 1982 Silver medal in single
  • 1984 Silver medal in double
  • 1986 Gold medal in double, gold medal in team competition
  • 1988 Gold medal in double, gold medal in team competition
  • 1990 Gold medal in team competition
  • 1992 Silver medal in double, gold medal in team competition
  • 1994 Silver medal in single, silver medal in team competition
  • 1996 Gold medal in single, gold medal in double, gold medal in team competition
  • 2000 Gold medal in team competition
  • 2002 Gold medal in team competition

Swedish Championships

  • 1981 Gold medal in double
  • 1982 Gold medal in double
  • 1983 Gold medal in single
  • 1984 Gold medal in single
  • 1986 Gold medal in single, gold medal in double
  • 1988 Silver medal in double
  • 1989 Gold medal in single, silver medal in double
  • 1991 Gold medal in single, gold medal in double
  • 1992 Gold medal in double
  • 1993 Silver medal in double
  • 1994 Silver medal in single, gold medal in double
  • 1996 Gold medal in single
  • 1997 Gold medal in single, silver medal in double
  • 1999 Gold medal in double

External links

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