Jan-Ove Waldner
Personal information
Full nameJan-Ove Waldner
Nickname(s)老瓦 (Lǎo Wǎ)
NationalitySwedish
Born (1965-10-03) 3 October 1965 (age 58)
Stockholm, Sweden
Table tennis career
Playing styleShakehand grip
Medal record
Representing  Sweden
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 1992 Barcelona Singles
Silver medal – second place 2000 Sydney Singles
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 1989 Dortmund Singles
Gold medal – first place 1989 Dortmund Team
Gold medal – first place 1991 Chiba City Team
Gold medal – first place 1993 Gothenburg Team
Gold medal – first place 1997 Manchester Singles
Gold medal – first place 2000 Kuala Lumpur Team
Silver medal – second place 1983 Tokyo Team
Silver medal – second place 1985 Gothenburg Team
Silver medal – second place 1987 New Delhi Singles
Silver medal – second place 1987 New Delhi Team
Silver medal – second place 1991 Chiba City Singles
Silver medal – second place 1995 Tianjin Team
Silver medal – second place 1997 Manchester Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 1993 Gothenburg Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1999 Eindhoven Singles
Bronze medal – third place 2001 Osaka Team
World Cup
Gold medal – first place 1990 Chiba City Singles
Gold medal – first place 1990 Chiba City Team
Silver medal – second place 1983 Barbados Singles
Silver medal – second place 1991 Barcelona Team
Silver medal – second place 1994 Nimes Team
Silver medal – second place 1996 Nimes Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1991 Barcelona Singles
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 1986 Prague Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1986 Prague Team
Gold medal – first place 1988 Paris Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1988 Paris Team
Gold medal – first place 1990 Gothenburg Team
Gold medal – first place 1992 Stuttgart Team
Gold medal – first place 1996 Bratislava Singles
Gold medal – first place 1996 Bratislava Doubles
Gold medal – first place 1996 Bratislava Team
Gold medal – first place 2000 Bremen Team
Gold medal – first place 2002 Zagreb Team
Silver medal – second place 1982 Budapest Singles
Silver medal – second place 1984 Moscow Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1992 Stuttgart Doubles
Silver medal – second place 1994 Birmingham Singles
Silver medal – second place 1994 Birmingham Team
Bronze medal – third place 1988 Paris Singles
Bronze medal – third place 1998 Eindhoven Doubles
Bronze medal – third place 2000 Bremen Singles

Jan-Ove Waldner (born 3 October 1965)[1][2] is a Swedish former table tennis player. He is often referred to as "the Mozart of table tennis,"[3][4] and is widely regarded as being one of the greatest table tennis player of all time. A sporting legend in his native Sweden as well as in China,[3] he is known in China as 老瓦 Lǎo Wǎ ("Old Waldner") or 常青树 Cháng Qīng Shù ("Evergreen Tree"),[5] because of his extraordinary longevity and competitiveness.

Biography

Jan-Ove Waldner was born in Stockholm on 3 October 1965. His athletic potential was recognized 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, who was perceived then as the logical successor to the original Swedish World Champion, Stellan Bengtsson. While still developing his game, Waldner, along with several other Swedish players, traveled to a national-level training camp held in China, and was reportedly amazed by the dedication and solidarity of the Chinese players. He has claimed ever since that he learned much during his stay, and thereafter first began to regard his opportunity to succeed in table tennis as paramount. In China, a country that adores table tennis, he is undisputedly the best-known[3] Swedish person, and still one of the most well-known sports personalities. In the 1990s, he was more recognizable in China than then President of the United States Bill Clinton. 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 who has ever lived.

He received the Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal in 1992.

As of 2015, Waldner has 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, Croatian Zoran Primorac, Belgian Jean-Michel Saive, Hungarian Csilla Bátorfi, Serbian-American Ilija Lupulesku, and German Jörg Roßkopf.

In 2010 Waldner won his ninth Swedish championship against Pär Gerell, 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.[6][7]

He is one of only five male players in the history of table tennis to achieve a career grand slam (World Champion and World Cup winner in singles, Olympic gold medal in singles) (in 1992). The others are: Liu Guoliang, China (in 1999), Kong Linghui, China (in 2000), Zhang Jike, China (in 2012), and Ma Long, China (in 2016).[8]

In 2012 he began playing for Spårvägens BTK.[9]

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.[10]

Olympic Games

World championships

European Championships

Swedish Championships

See also

References

  1. ^ Jan-Ove Waldner profile Archived 2008-10-23 at the Wayback Machine. Swedish Table Tennis Federation
  2. ^ Biography of WALDNER Jan-Ove Archived 2009-02-09 at the Wayback Machine. ITTF.
  3. ^ a b c Bishop, G. (August 23, 2008). A Swedish face for China’s beloved sport. The New York Times.
  4. ^ Clarey, C. (August 23, 2004). For 'table tennis Mozart,' few high notes. International Herald Tribune.
  5. ^ Jan-Ove “Evergreen” Waldner – Table Tennis Legend. Game Tables Online
  6. ^ Table Tennista Europe
  7. ^ Fulda-Maberzell web site, retrieved 19 July, 2012
  8. ^ "Sport Olympics 2012: table tennis". The Guardian. London. 2 August 2012. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  9. ^ "Spårvägens BTK men's team in the 2012/13 season". Archived from the original on February 2, 2014. ((cite web)): Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  10. ^ "Waldner Officially retired".
Preceded byPernilla Wiberg Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal 1992 Succeeded byTorgny Mogren
Jan-Ove Waldner's Titles
International
National
Other
Categories