Jan-Ove Waldner

Jan-Ove Waldner
Personal information
Full name	Jan-Ove Waldner
Nationality	Sweden
Born	(1965-10-03) 3 October 1965 Stockholm, Sweden
Playing style	Shakehand grip
Medal record Representing Sweden Olympic Games 2000 Sydney Singles 1992 Barcelona Singles World Championships 2001 Osaka Team 2000 Kuala Lumpur Team 1999 Eindhoven Singles 1997 Manchester Singles 1997 Manchester Doubles 1995 Tianjin Team 1993 Gothenburg Singles 1993 Gothenburg Team 1991 Chiba City Singles 1991 Chiba City Team 1989 Dortmund Singles 1989 Dortmund Team 1987 New Delhi Singles 1987 New Delhi Team 1985 Gothenburg Team 1983 Tokyo Team World Cup 1996 Nimes Singles 1994 Nimes Team 1991 Barcelona Singles 1991 Barcelona Team 1990 Chiba City Singles 1990 Chiba City Team 1983 Barbados Singles European Championships 2002 Zagreb Team 2000 Bremen Singles 2000 Bremen Team 1998 Eindhoven Doubles 1996 Bratislava Singles 1996 Bratislava Doubles 1996 Bratislava Team 1994 Birmingham Singles 1994 Birmingham Team 1992 Stuttgart Doubles 1992 Stuttgart Team 1990 Gothenburg Team 1988 Paris Singles 1988 Paris Doubles 1988 Paris Team 1986 Prague Doubles 1986 Prague Team 1984 Moscow Doubles 1982 Budapest Singles

Jan-Ove Waldner (Stockholm, 3 October 1965) is a Swedish table tennis player. He is often referred to as "the Mozart of table tennis," and is widely regarded as being the greatest table tennis player of all-time. A sporting legend in his native Sweden as well as in China, he is known in China as 老瓦 Lao Wa - ("Old Waldner)" or 常青树 Chang Qing Shu - "Evergreen Tree," 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 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" (Lao Wa) in Mandarin. He is considered by many to be the most technically complete player of all time, and is almost inarguably the most successful "shakehand" 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, whom 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 offered Olympic games (successively 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.

He is one of only four 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) and Zhang Jike, China (in 2012).

In Olympic terms, he is still (after the 2012 Olympics) a leader in medals won, with one Gold (Barcelona) and one Silver medal (Sydney), and an additional appearance in the semifinals of the Athens games, where he lost the Bronze medal to three-time Chinese world champion Wang Liqin.

In 2012 he began playing for Spårvägens BTK.

Olympic Games

• 1988 Final 8 in single, final 8 in double
• 1992 Gold medal in single, first round in double
• 1996 Final 16 in single, final 8 in double
• 2000 Silver medal in single, final 16 in double
• 2004 Fourth in single, final 8 in double

World championships

• 1983 Silver medal in team competition
• 1985 Silver medal in team competition
• 1987 Silver medal in single, silver medal in team competition
• 1989 Gold medal in single, gold medal in team competition
• 1991 Silver medal in single, gold medal in team competition
• 1993 Bronze medal in single, gold medal in team competition
• 1995 Silver medal in team competition
• 1997 Gold medal in single (21-0 in games), silver medal in double
• 1999 Bronze medal in single
• 2000 Gold medal in team competition
• 2001 Bronze medal in team competition

European Championships

• 1982 Silver medal in single
• 1984 Silver medal in double
• 1986 Gold medal in double, gold medal in team competition
• 1988 Gold medal in double, gold medal in team competition
• 1990 Gold medal in team competition
• 1992 Silver medal in double, gold medal in team competition
• 1994 Silver medal in single, silver medal in team competition
• 1996 Gold medal in single, gold medal in double, gold medal in team competition
• 1998 Bronze medal in double
• 2000 Bronze medal in single, gold medal in team competition
• 2002 Gold medal in team competition

Swedish Championships

• 1981 Gold medal in double
• 1982 Gold medal in double
• 1983 Gold medal in single
• 1984 Gold medal in single
• 1986 Gold medal in single, gold medal in double
• 1987 Silver medal in double
• 1989 Gold medal in single, silver medal in double
• 1991 Gold medal in single, gold medal in double
• 1992 Gold medal in double
• 1993 Silver medal in double
• 1994 Silver medal in single, gold medal in double
• 1996 Gold medal in single
• 1997 Gold medal in single, silver medal in double
• 1999 Gold medal in double
• 2006 Gold medal in single
• 2010 Gold medal in single

See also

• List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games

References

• Svenskar i världen (Swedes in the World), Spring edition 2005, Swedish magazine.

External links

• International championship statistics
• Swedish championship statistics
• Jan-Ove Waldner vs. Mikael Appelgren - 1990 U.S. Open Table Tennis Championships Video
• Chinese TV interview mixed with video clips of his career
• Jan-Ove Waldners website for Chinese fans
• Jan-Ove Waldners website for English speaking fans

Preceded by Pernilla Wiberg

Svenska Dagbladet Gold Medal 1992

Succeeded by Torgny Mogren