Jan-Ove Waldner (; born 3 October 1965), Jan-Ove Waldner profile .'' Swedish Table Tennis Federation in Sweden commonly ''J-O Waldner'' (, is a Swedish former
table tennis
Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a sport in which two or four players hit a lightweight ball, also known as the ping-pong ball, back and forth across a table using small solid rackets. It takes place on a hard table div ...
player. He is often referred to as "the
Mozart
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 17565 December 1791), baptised as Joannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart, was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his ra ...
Sweden
Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
as well as in
China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, he is known in China as 老瓦 ''Lǎo Wǎ'' ("Elder Waldner") or 常青树 ''Cháng Qīng Shù'' ("Evergreen Tree"), because of his extraordinary longevity and competitiveness. As of July 2021, he is the only person to win an Olympic table tennis gold medal representing a non-Asian country.
Biography
Jan-Ove Waldner was born in Stockholm on 3 October 1965. His athletic potential was recognised at an early age and was displayed in 1982 when, as a 16-year-old, he reached the final of the European Championships, losing to distinguished left-handed teammate
Mikael Appelgren
Kent Mikael Appelgren (born 15 October 1961 in Stockholm) is a Swedish former table tennis player.
Table tennis career
He was 4-times World Table Tennis Championships, World Champion, 9-times Table Tennis European Championships, European Champi ...
, who was perceived then as the logical successor to the first Swedish World Champion,
Stellan Bengtsson
Stellan Bengtsson (born 26 July 1952) is a Swedish former table tennis player. He became the first Swede to win the men's singles at the World Table Tennis Championships in 1971.men's singles at 1992 Summer Olympics, becoming the first and to date only player not from China, Japan, or South Korea to win an Olympic table tennis title. Eight years later, he won silver in the same event at the
2000 Summer Olympics
The 2000 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXVII Olympiad and also known as Sydney 2000 (Dharug: ''Gadigal 2000''), the Millennium Olympic Games or the Games of the New Millennium, was an international multi-sport event held from 1 ...
, narrowly losing to
Kong Linghui
Kong Linghui (; born October 18, 1975) is a male Chinese table tennis player. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In 1996, Kong won the gold medal in the men's doubles co ...
.
In China, a country that adores table tennis, he is undisputedly the best-known Swedish person, and still one of the most well-known sports personalities. In the 1990s, he was more recognisable in China than then-President of the United States
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
. His venerable status and long career has led to his being nicknamed "the evergreen tree" (Chang Qing Shu) in Mandarin. He is considered by many to be the most technically complete player of all time, and is almost inarguably the most successful non-Chinese player of the sport.
In 2010 Waldner won his ninth Swedish championship, defeating
Pär Gerell
Pär Håkan Gerell (born 23 June 1982 in Växjö) is a Swedish table tennis player. He has been playing for French club Chartres ASTT since 2010. Based on his June 2011 world ranking, Gerell qualified for the London 2012 Olympic Games. He also ...
, who was born the same year Waldner became Swedish national champion for the first time.
He played for TTC Rhön-Sprudel Fulda-Maberzell in the German Bundesliga until May 2012. In May 2012 Stefan Frauenholz, Fulda-Maberzell's President, confirmed that Jan-Ove Waldner finished his contract with the club. Timo Boll: "Was yesterday's match against us the last one for Jan-Ove Waldner?" referring to the Bundesliga semifinal between Borussia Düsseldorf and Fulda-Maberzell. This ended his career at the international elite level, at the age of 46 years.
In 2012 he began playing for Spårvägens BTK.
On 11 February 2016, Waldner played his last game in the Swedish first league for Ängby/Spårvägen and officially announced his retirement as a player.
When he retired, Waldner had been playing international elite level table tennis for more than thirty years, which is somewhat unusual in the table tennis world given that hand–eye coordination and quick reactions are essential. Some young Chinese players whom he has recently played against were trained by those he played against in the 1990s, who were in turn trained by others he played in the 1980s.
He is one of the seven table tennis players who competed at the first five Olympic Games table tennis tournaments since the sport's introduction at the Games in 1988. The others are Swede
Jörgen Persson
Jörgen Persson (born 22 April 1966, in Halmstad, Sweden) 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 ...
Jean-Michel Saive
Jean-Michel Saive (born 17 November 1969) is a Belgian former professional table tennis. Saive competed at seven consecutive Olympics between 1988 and 2012, and he was also a winner in singles at European Championship 1994.
Personal life
Born ...
, Hungarian
Csilla Bátorfi
Csilla Bátorfi (born 3 March 1969 in Szombathely) is a Hungarian table tennis player. She competed at five consecutive Olympic Games from 1988 (when the sport first appeared at the Games) to 2004. She won several titles in European Championshi ...
, Serbian-American
Ilija Lupulesku
Ilija Lupulesku ( sr-cyr, Илија Лупулеску; born October 30, 1967) is a former Serbian and later American table tennis player who competed at the 1988 Summer Olympics, 1988, 1992 Summer Olympics, 1992, 1996 Summer Olympics, 1996, 2000 ...
, and German
Jörg Roßkopf
Jörg Roßkopf (born May 22, 1969 in Dieburg, Hesse) is a former professional German table tennis player who is currently the head coach of the German Men's National Table Tennis Team. As a player, he won the title in Men's Doubles at the 1989 Wo ...
.
He was also the first of only five male players in the history of table tennis to achieve a career grand slam (World Champion, World Cup and Olympic gold medal winner in singles) (in 1992). The others are:
Liu Guoliang
Liu Guoliang (; born January 10, 1976) is a retired Chinese table tennis player who has won all titles at major world tournaments including World Championships, World Cup and Olympic Games. He is the second man to achieve a career grand slam of ...
, China (in 1999),
Kong Linghui
Kong Linghui (; born October 18, 1975) is a male Chinese table tennis player. He competed in the 1996 Summer Olympics, as well as in the 2000 Summer Olympics and the 2004 Summer Olympics.
In 1996, Kong won the gold medal in the men's doubles co ...
, China (in 2000),
Zhang Jike
Zhang Jike (; born 16 February 1988) is a retired Chinese table tennis player.
Zhang became the fourth male player in the history of table tennis to achieve a career Grand Slam when he won gold in men's singles at the Olympic games in London 20 ...
, China (in 2012), and
Ma Long
Ma Long (; born 20 October 1988) is a Chinese table tennis player and the reigning Olympic singles champion. Widely regarded as the greatest table tennis player of all time, he is the first and only male player to complete a career Double Grand ...
, China (in 2016).
In popular culture
In the US TV series ''
The Office
''The Office'' is a mockumentary sitcom created by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, first made in the United Kingdom, then Germany, and subsequently the United States. It has since been remade in ten other countries.
The original series of ...
'', the character Dwight mentions Waldner as one of his heroes in " The Deposition" episode. Waldner is also mentioned in season 2 episode 10 of the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
original series ''
BoJack Horseman
''BoJack Horseman'' is an American adult animation, adult animated Black comedy, black Comedy drama, comedy-drama streaming television series created by Raphael Bob-Waksberg. It stars the voices of Will Arnett, Amy Sedaris, Alison Brie, Paul F ...
'', where one of the characters calls him ''the
Michael Jordan
Michael Jeffrey Jordan (born February 17, 1963), also known by his initials MJ, is an American businessman and former professional basketball player. His biography on the official NBA website states: "By acclamation, Michael Jordan is the g ...
of table tennis''.
Olympic Games
*
1988
File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...
Final 8 in single, final 8 in double
*
1992
File:1992 Events Collage V1.png, From left, clockwise: 1992 Los Angeles riots, Riots break out across Los Angeles, California after the Police brutality, police beating of Rodney King; El Al Flight 1862 crashes into a residential apartment buildi ...
Gold medal in single, first round in double
*
1996
File:1996 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: A Centennial Olympic Park bombing, bomb explodes at Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta, set off by a radical Anti-abortion violence, anti-abortionist; The center fuel tank explodes on TWA Flight 8 ...
Final 16 in single, final 8 in double
*
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
Silver medal in single, final 16 in double
*
2004
2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO).
Events January
* January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...
Fourth in single, final 8 in double
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
* 2001 Bronze medal in team competition
European Championships
* 1982 Silver medal in single
* 1984 Silver medal in double, bronze medal in team competition
* 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
* 1998 Bronze medal in double, bronze medal in team competition
* 2000 Bronze medal in single, 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
* 1987 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
* 2006 Gold medal in single
* 2010 Gold medal in single
* 2011 Gold in inter branch tournament
See also
*
List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games
A small fraction of the world's population ever competes at the Olympic Games; an even smaller fraction ever competes in multiple Games. 849 athletes (260 women and 589 men) have participated in at least five Olympics from Athens 1896 to Beiji ...
Notes
References
* ''Svenskar i världen'' (''Swedes in the World''), Spring edition 2005, Swedish magazine.