Sean O'Neill (born July 31, 1967) is an American

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 and coach. He began playing table tennis in

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

at the age of 8 with this father
Patrick
who was a nationally ranked junior player from

Toledo, Ohio Toledo ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Lucas County, Ohio, United States. A major Midwestern United States port city, Toledo is the fourth-most populous city in the state of Ohio, after Columbus, Cleveland, and Cincinnati, and according ...

. O'Neill went on to win every US National Age Championship title, including the Under 11, 13, 15, 17 (5 times), 21, and Over 30 events. In addition to the age events, O'Neill won the US National Men's Singles (5 times), Men's Doubles (5 times), and

Mixed Doubles Mixed doubles or mixed pairs is a form of mixed-sex sports that consists of teams of one man and one woman. This variation of competition is prominent in curling and racket sports, such as tennis, table tennis and badminton (where it is known as ...

(6 times) Championships. From 1983 to 1995 O'Neill participated in 5 World Championships, 4

Pan Am Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

(winning 2 Gold, 5 Silver, and 1 Bronze Medal), 3 World Cups - Singles, Doubles, and Team - and 2 Olympic Games, in 1988 and 1992. O'Neill was the 1990 North American Men's Singles Champion. O'Neill was named

USATT USA Table Tennis, colloquially known as USATT, is the non-profit governing body for table tennis in the United States and is responsible for cataloging and sanctioning table tennis tournaments within the country. It was founded in 1933 as the Unit ...

Male Athlete of the Year on five occasions and served on the United States Olympic Committee's Athletes' Advisory Council as a player representative for the sport of table tennis. O'Neill dominated the table tennis event at the US Olympic Sports Festival (formerly National Sports Festival). Participating in each event from 1981 to 1995, O'Neill won an unmatched 18 Gold, 5 Silver, and 4 Bronze medals in the sport of table tennis. O'Neill lit the torch along with Sharon Cain of Team Handball in the Opening Ceremonies in San Antonio in 1993. O'Neill played for the Angby Sport Club in

Stockholm, Sweden Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropoli ...

during his early junior career in addition to training in China on numerous occasions. Upon retiring from full-time play, O'Neill began a coaching career that has led to work with the top US Para Table Tennis Players. The head coach for the 2004, 2008, an
2012 US Table Tennis Paralympic teams
he has also led the team at the 2002 World Championships (Team Leader), 2006 World Championships (Head Coach) and the Para Pan Am Games/Championships in 2003, 2005, and 2007. O'Neill was name

in 2005 as the head coach for the University of Virginia team. O'Neill was named

USA Table Tennis USA Table Tennis, colloquially known as USATT, is the non-profit governing body for table tennis in the United States and is responsible for cataloging and sanctioning table tennis tournaments within the country. It was founded in 1933 as the Uni ...

National Coach of the Year in 2005. O'Neill was presented with the 2007 James "Doc" Counsilman Science Award for his work with telecoaching. O'Neill was name
USATT Developmental Coach of the Year
in 2010. He coached the Portland State University team in 2010–2011. O'Neill contributed to NBC's Olympic Coverage in Athens in 2004, and was the

color commentator A color commentator or expert commentator is a sports commentator who assists the main (play-by-play) commentator, typically by filling in when play is not in progress. The phrase "colour commentator" is primarily used in Canadian English and t ...

for table tennis in Beijing in 2008, London in 2012, Rio in 2016, and Tokyo in 2021. He has also covered the 2009 and 2010 World Championships for NBC Universal Sports plus the 2015 and 2016 US Nationals for One World Sports. O'Neill was inducted in th
George C. Marshall Hall of Fame
in 1998 and th
USTT Hall of Fame Profile
in 2007. He was Director of Communications from 2014 to 2017 and High Performance Director from 2019 to 2021 for USA Table Tennis. Sean presently works fo
Paddle Palace
as a club coach and Director of Marketing & Communications.

References

External links