Table tennis player Ni Xia Lian is 61 and playing for Luxembourg at the Olympics

Athletes are generally believed to be in the prime of their sporting career when they are under the age of 30. However for 61-year-old China-born table tennis player Ni Xia Lian, age is just a number.
Xia Lian, who is representing Luxembourg at the 2024 Paris Olympics, is the oldest player to compete in this year’s table tennis tournament. She is, however, not the oldest competing Olympian in Paris. That honour goes to Australian equestrian Mary Janna, who turns 70 in four months.
Yesterday (Jul 28), Xia Lian bested Turkey’s Sibel Altinkaya, 31, in the first-round match of the women’s individual competition with a score of 4-2.
With that, Xia Lian also became the oldest table tennis player to snag a win at the Olympics. She is currently ranked 53rd in the world.
This year marks Xia Lian’s sixth time participating in the Olympic games.
The Shanghai-born athlete began her career at a young age, and was part of the team representing China. She won gold at the team and mixed doubles in the 1983 World Table Tennis Championships at the age of 20.
Back then, table tennis was not yet an official Olympic sport, and it was only at the 1988 Seoul Olympics that it was recognised as one.
Xia Lian and Guangzhou-born Chile table tennis player Zeng Zhiying, 58, used to train together in China, but never got to represent their birth country in the Olympics.
In 1989, after retiring from the Chinese national team, Xia Lian moved to Germany. She moved to Luxembourg two years later, and has been representing the European country since.
Xia Lian’s husband, Swedish table tennis player Tommy Danielsson is her coach and her training partner. The couple has a son, who is a physiotherapist
Xia Lian participated in the 2000 Sydney Olympics at the age of 37, and has qualified for every Olympics since.
During the 2016 Rio Olympics, she went up against Singapore’s Feng Tianwei in the third round of the women’s singles competition. Xia Lian lost 4-2 in that match-up.
She participated in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at 58, and was already the oldest table tennis Olympian then.
In a recent interview in Paris, Xia Lian said: “I am the oldest athlete, and I am an example for the kids who are striving to do their best.”
“I don’t remember my age, but it would be nice if I was [still] 16!” she continued with a laugh.
This Wednesday (July 31), at 5pm (SGT), Xia Lian will go up against world number one, Team China’s Sun Yingsha in the round of 32. The latter turns 24 in November.
When Xia Lian first competed in the Olympics, Yingsha hadn’t even been born. Many are looking forward to the clash between the pair, who have a 37-year age gap between them.
“I think this is a life chance for me to play with number one in the world. I just wish to have [a] beautiful match, but of course, I will cherish every point,” said Xia Lian. 
She’s clearly anticipating the match as much as we are.
Photos: hk01, nixialianofficial/ Instagram, sunyingshafans/ Instagram
Watch Xia Lian’s upcoming match against Sun Yingsha on mewatch.
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