Deng Yaping who won four Olympic gold medals, is regarded as one of the greatest table tennis players in the world. She began playing table tennis at five years old, and four years later she 1 her provincial junior championship. She was only 13 2 she won her first national championship.
She is 3 , but her coach didn"t think she can succeed at first, because she was short—she stood only 1.5 meters tall. 4 , she was very clever, Deng won her first singles world championship in 1991.
At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she won 5 medals in both the singles and doubles competitions, and won the gold medals at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia again.
When she retired 6 the age of 24, she had won more honor than any other player in the sport. She had been a table tennis world 7 8 times, including four Olympic gold medals. From 1990 to 1997 ,she was voted as Chinese Female Athlete of the Century, and 8 the International Table Tennis Federation (联合会) in 2003.
Deng 9 on the International Olympic Committee (委员会) in 1997. She gained Doctorate from the University of Cambridge (Jesus College) on November 29th, 2008.
During the 29th Beijing Olympic Games, as a leader of the Olympic Athletes Village, she witnessed (目睹) and 10 the spirit of competition with athletes from all over the world!
In a word, Deng Yaping is a great woman!