Athens 2004 Official Report - LA84 Foundation

Left page:
China's Qi Chen and Lin Ma play
against Hong Kong's Lai Chak Ko
and Ching Li during their men's
doubles table tennis gold medal
match.
© REUTERS/K. Doherty
Table Tennis
Competition Sequence
The Olympic Table Tennis Tournament was hosted from 14 to 23 August.
The finals were held from 20 to 23 August.
Wed Thu
11
As a result of Roy Evan's efforts, Table Tennis was
recognised in 1997 as an Olympic sport and was
included in the Summer Olympic Games for the
first time in Seoul in 1988. After a promising
debut, Table Tennis was staged successfully in
Barcelona (1992), Atlanta (1996), and Sydney
(2000), and was also featured in the Athens
2004 Olympic Games. In the four Olympic Table
Tennis competition, the People's Republic of
China have displayed their dominance in the
sport having won 13 gold medals, while Korea
has seized 2 gold medals and Sweden I.
Table Tennis is currently considered one of the
most popular sports in the world in terms of
participation numbers, with more than 187
National Federations members of ITTF.
Men's: 2
Singles
Doubles
12
Fr
13
Description
Sat
14
Sun
15
Women's :2
Singles
Doubles
Mon Tue Wed Thu
Table Tennis has developed into a major
worldwide sport practised by perhaps 40
million competitive players and by countless
millions, who play less seriously. However, the
game itself has not changed in essence, since its
earliest days, though it is faster, subtler and more
demanding than it was just twenty years ago.
Modern Table Tennis, at both National and
International level is as rigorous as any sport in
its demand for the highest degree of physical
fitness and mental concentration, attained only
through arduous training. Table Tennis is an
individual sport consisting of team and singles
events. The disciplines include the men's and
women's singles, doubles and mixed pairs. There
are four disciplines in the Olympic Games
programme:
16
17
18
Total:4
19
Fr
20
Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu
21
Competitors: 172
Event
Men
Singles
Doubles
Women
Singles
22
Doubles
23
24
25
Players
64
64
64
68
26
Fr
27
Sat
28
NOC
39
25
36
26
Sun
According to the game structure of the
Olympic Tournament, athletes compete against
each other according to the knockout system.
Each match consists of seven sets maximum.
The athlete who wins four sets first is the
game's winner.
Venue
Table Tennis at the ATHENS 2004 Olympic
Games was hosted at the Galatsi Olympic Hall,
a suburb northwest of the city of Athens, which
also hosted the Rhythmic Gymnastics events. It
included a main building with 6.500 seats for the
spectators, along with other surrounding areas,
access roads, parking areas, etc.
Games Highlights
The Chinese squad dominated the ATHENS
2004 Olympic Games Table Tennis event, but
not quite as much as expected. Three of the
four gold medals went to China, but even that
impressive return did not fully satisfy Chinese
expectations.
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Official Report of the XXVIII Olympiad 399