Born: 10 January 1976

Birthplace: Xinxiang (People’s Republic of China)

Nationality: People’s Republic of China

Sport: Table Tennis

ATTENDANCE AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES

Atlanta 1996

Sydney 2000

AWARDS

Olympic medals:

Gold: 2

Silver: 1

Bronze: 1

Other results:

World Championships

Gold: 7 (95, 97, 99, 2001)

Silver: 4 (93, 95, 2000, 2001)

Bronze: 3 (93, 95, 2001)

The student becomes master

In his birth town of Xinxiang, from the early age of six, the young Guoliang managed his first forehand drive. He very quickly adopted the Chinese playing style known as “penhold” and rapidly mastered the basics of table tennis. In 1991, aged 15, his efforts began to pay off: he was selected for the Chinese national team.

After having shone at the World Championships in 1993 and 1995, Guoliang Liu took part in his first Olympic Games in Atlanta in 1996. In the singles semi-final, he eliminated Germany’s Jörg Rosskopf (3 sets to 1) and reached the final which saw him play against compatriot Tao Wang. The match was very tight and they both found themselves with two sets each. Guoliang took the lead in the decisive round and finally won with a score of 21 to 6 to take the gold. In the doubles, he again faced Tao Wang in the final, playing with Lin Lu; this time the match was shorter. Liu and his teammate Linghui Kong led the match from the start and grabbed victory (3 sets to 1). At 20, Guoliang Liu became a double Olympic champion.

In 2000 in Sydney, Guoliang Liu went to the Games of the XXVII Olympiad to defend his titles. In the singles semi-final, he was given short shift by Sweden’s Jan-Ove Waldner, who beat him 3 sets to 0. He did, however, manage to take the bronze medal against Sweden’s Jorgen Persson. In the doubles, he played again with teammate Linghui Kong, with whom he won the silver, losing 3 sets to 1 to their compatriots Liqin Wang and Sen Yan. With these two additional titles to his credit, Guoliang Liu thus became the table tennis player with the most medals in the history of the Olympic Games.

In the meantime, Guoliang Liu achieved an unusual feat. In four years, he won the three major table tennis competitions: after the singles gold at the 1996 Olympic Games, he won the team World Championships in 1997 and gold in the singles at the World Championships in 1999.

In 2002, he retired from competition and became the youngest head coach of the Chinese men’s team. With him and the athletes’ talent, China won three medals at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004. Today, the Chinese table tennis team is one of the best in the world, and intends to prove it at the next Games in 2008 in Beijing.