WIdeally considered the greatest table tennis player of all time, Ma Long addressed journalists after China’s round of 16 match against India in the men’s team competition on Tuesday at the Paris Olympics. Long, universally regarded these days as the GOAT of ping pong—reply me with counterarguments, and they will be duly noted but duly ignored by TIME’s non-existent panel of table tennis experts—was flanked by his two companions team, the Paris men’s singles gold medalist Fan Zhendong and Wang Chuqin. His victory came in the presence of other sporting legends who also hold the GOAT title – Tom Brady and Serena Williams. “Let’s say the LeBron James of table tennis,” says Croatian Filip Zeljko, from Long. So I wanted to know if the table tennis star had any message for people who weren’t familiar with his exploits. What should the world know about Ma Long?
Long, like any good GOAT, fell into familiar modern sports jargon. “I prefer to present the Chinese team first as the most important thing,” he said through an interpreter. “Table tennis is a very, very famous and important sport in China. And also, the Chinese team is one of the best teams in the world. Those who play table tennis will know the Chinese team. And that is enough.”
The answer fits Long’s characterizations as a good guy. “He’s not arrogant,” says Zeljko. “Always polite, always respectful, so all the players respect him a lot because of that.” One of the Chinese flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, Long lists tennis legend Roger Federer as a hero.
At the table, Long’s credentials speak for themselves. “Ma Long is, without a doubt, the greatest table tennis player in history” he writes the official website of the Olympics. “His achievements leave no doubt: five Olympic gold medals, three world singles titles and the record for the longest reign at number one in the world rankings.” Adding up the doubles and team events, Long, 35, won an almost comical 14 world titles throughout his career.
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“His mental energy is very concentrated,” Sijing Chen, a journalist with China Sports Publication Corp., wrote via a translation app during China’s match against India at South Paris Arena 4. “What is rare is that He has won so many championships, but he insists on training hard every day, being very self-disciplined. He is a genius.”
Long displayed this genius during his doubles match in the team competition against India, acting as a fortress behind the table to block his opponents’ winning attempts. Although he is a veteran player, Long still looks quite vibrant and athletic. When he plays with younger doubles partners, notes Indian Sharath Kamal Achanta, the difference in speed between teammates is not obvious. “When I play with my younger players,” says Kamal Achanta, 42, “you can clearly see that the younger ones are faster than me.”
“Mentally, it eats you up,” says Kamal Achanta. “He doesn’t give you a chance to breathe.”
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He won multiple nicknames over the years. Captain Long, The Dictator, The Dragon. China is so rich in table tennis that Long didn’t even qualify for the singles events, which allow two players per county. But after Chuqin lost in the round of 16 last week in the individual competition – the day after a photographer accidentally broken Chuqin’s rowing – Long’s fans asked him to stay in Los Angeles and play singles at the 2028 Olympics, when he will be 39 years old. The thread “Ma Long’s Male Singles Quota” gained 150 million views on Weibo, the Chinese social media platform, according to South China Morning post.
Long grew up in Anshan, a city in Liaoning Province, about 100 miles from North Korea. He started playing table tennis at the age of five. At 14, he was playing for China’s junior national team. Eva Gui, an engineer from Beijing who was at Arena 4 in southern Paris with her 7-year-old son and 70-year-old father to watch table tennis, called Long the biggest sports star in China. “All the kids want to follow him.” says Gui.
“I worked and played table tennis for almost 30 years,” says Long. “Table tennis gave me many unforgettable memories. I received a lot of respect and a lot of rewards. It’s very difficult not to like table tennis.”
The GOAT has spoken.
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