Table tennis is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin relative to other ball sports, which can heavily affect the ball's trajectory.
Ping-pong diplomacy refers to the exchange of table tennis (ping-pong) players between the United States and the People's Republic of China in the early 1970s. Considered a turning point in relations between the United States and the People's Republic of China, it began during the 1971 World Table Tennis Championships in Nagoya, Japan, as a result of an encounter between players Glenn Cowan and Zhuang Zedong. The exchange and its promotion helped people in each country to recognize the humanity in the people of the other country, and it paved the way for President Richard Nixon's visit to Beijing in 1972.
The International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is the governing body for all national table tennis associations. The role of the ITTF includes overseeing rules and regulations and seeking technological improvement for the sport of table tennis. The ITTF is responsible for the organization of numerous international competitions, including the World Table Tennis Championships that has continued since 1926.
The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 December 1995, when the Corps' civilian volunteers were stood down. Composed mainly of civilian spare-time volunteers, ROC personnel wore a Royal Air Force (RAF) style uniform and latterly came under the administrative control of RAF Strike Command and the operational control of the Home Office. Civilian volunteers were trained and administered by a small cadre of professional full-time officers under the command of the Commandant Royal Observer Corps; latterly a serving RAF Air Commodore.
The all-time medal table for all Olympic Games from 1896 to 2022, including Summer Olympic Games, Winter Olympic Games, and a combined total of both, is tabulated below. These Olympic medal counts do not include the 1906 Intercalated Games which are no longer recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as official Games. The IOC itself does not publish all-time tables, and publishes unofficial tables only per single Games. This table was thus compiled by adding up single entries from the IOC database.
The table tennis competition at the 1996 Summer Olympics consisted of four events.
The table tennis competition at the 1992 Summer Olympics consisted of four events.
Originally having participated in Olympics as the delegation of the Republic of China (ROC) from 1924 Summer Olympics to 1976 Winter Olympics,China competed at the Olympic Games under the name of the People's Republic of China (PRC) for the first time in 1952 Summer Olympics held in Helsinki, Finland, although they only arrived in time during the last days to participate in a one event. That year, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed both the PRC and ROC to compete with the name "China", although the latter withdrew in protest. Due to the dispute over the political status of the "two Chinas", the PRC started a period of isolationism, withdrawing from several international sporting bodies and the UN system until the mid-1970s, when the country participated for the first time in the Asian Games in 1974 and the World University Games in 1977. Returning to the IOC officially only in 1979, which gave it the right to send an official delegation, starting from the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, United States. Their first appearance at the Summer Olympic Games after 1952 was the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, United States. The People's Republic of China staged boycotts of the Games of the XVI Olympiad in Melbourne, Australia, Games of the XVII Olympiad in Rome, Italy, Games of the XVIII Olympiad in Tokyo, Japan, Games of the XIX Olympiad in Mexico City, Mexico, Games of the XX Olympiad in Munich, Germany, and Games of the XXI Olympiad in Montreal, Canada. China also boycott the Games of the XXII Olympiad in Moscow, USSR due to the American-led boycott and the ongoing Sino-Soviet split, together with the other countries.
Table tennis competitions at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were held from August 13 to August 23, at the Peking University Gymnasium. The competition featured the team events for the first time, replacing the doubles events competed in previous games. A total of four sets of medals were awarded for the four events contested. China, as the host country, would win every medal possible, claiming the podium in both the Men's and Women's Singles events and claiming Gold in both the Men's and Women's Team Event, leading the IOC and ITTF, to change the qualification process for the 2012 Summer Olympics, to ensure that countries could only enter 2, instead of 3 athletes into the Singles event.
The Republic of China (ROC) took part in the opening ceremony of the 1924 Summer Olympics, but its four athletes, all of whom were tennis players, withdrew from competition. The ROC participated in its first Olympic Games in 1932 under the name of China. After the World War II, the ROC competed at the 1948 Summer Olympics. The ROC delegation at the 1948 Summer Games is the only ROC delegation composed of athletes from both mainland China and island of Taiwan in Olympic history. In 1932 and 1936, athletes from the island of Taiwan competed as part of the team of Japan.
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), first competed at the Asian Games in 1954 and continued participating at the games under various names. Due to political factors, the ROC delegation was refused to participate in the 1962 Asian Games by host Indonesian government. In 1973, the People's Republic of China (PRC) applied for participation in the Asian Games. The PRC's application was approved by the Asian Games Federation and the ROC was expelled.
Table Tennis Australia is the National Sporting Organisation for the Sport of Table Tennis in Australia and is affiliated with both the ITTF which oversees the international governance and development of Table Tennis and the OTTF which oversees the sport development at a regional level.
The Landstede Sportcentrum is an indoor sports complex located in Zwolle, Netherlands, which is used as a sports arena and was opened in 2010. It is the home of basketball team Landstede Hammers. The "centre court", which is used by both the club has a capacity of 1,200 people.
Table tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo featured 173 table tennis players. Table tennis had appeared at the Summer Olympics on eight previous occasions beginning with the 1988 Summer Olympics.
Prior to the 2019 decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the Russian Federation was expected to compete at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which took place from 23 July to 8 August 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It would have been the country's seventh consecutive appearance at the Summer Olympics as an independent nation; however, their athletes were entered by and represented the "Russian Olympic Committee", using the acronym "ROC", due to the consequences of the doping scandal in the country.
Croatia's Nikola Mektić and Mate Pavić defeated compatriots Marin Čilić and Ivan Dodig in the final, 6–4, 3–6, [10–6] to win the gold medal in Men's Doubles tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics. This was Croatia's first Olympic tennis gold and silver medals. For the first time since 1908, the gold medal match was contested by pairs representing the same country. In the bronze medal match, New Zealand's Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus defeated the United States' Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren, 7–6(7–3), 6–2. It was New Zealand's first Olympic tennis medal.
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev of the Russian Olympic Committee defeated compatriots Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in the final, 6–3, 6–7(5–7), [13–11] to win the gold medal in Mixed Doubles tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics. Australia's Ashleigh Barty and John Peers won the bronze medal following a withdrawal from Serbia's Nina Stojanović and Novak Djokovic. 32 competitors from 14 countries participated.
The women's singles table tennis event was part of the table tennis programme at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. The event took place from 24 July to 29 July 2021 at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium.
Germany's Alexander Zverev defeated Karen Khachanov of the Russian Olympic Committee in the final, 6–3, 6–1, to win the gold medal in Men's Singles tennis at the 2020 Summer Olympics. It was both countries' first medals at the event since 2000, and Germany's first victory. In the bronze medal match, Spain's Pablo Carreño Busta defeated Serbia's Novak Djokovic, 6–4, 6–7(6–8), 6–3. En route to his bronze medal, Carreño Busta defeated the world's top two ranked players – the ROC's Daniil Medvedev and Djokovic.
Dimitrije Levajac is a Serbian table tennis player who competed in 2020 Summer Olympics in men's singles and men's team. He was eliminated in singles in first round by Russian table tennis player Kirill Skachkov. He also competes in the Team Tournament.
Japan 
South Korea 
Republic of China 
Hong Kong 
Iran 
