Deng Yaping (simplified Chinese: 邓亚萍; traditional Chinese: 鄧亞萍; pinyin: Dèng Yàpíng; born February 6, 1973) is a Chinese table tennis player, who won eighteen world championships including four Olympic championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

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Deng Yaping
Native name	邓亚萍
Nationality	Chinese
Born	(1973-02-06) 6 February 1973 (age 51) Zhengzhou, Henan, China
Height	1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
Medal record Women's table tennis Representing  China Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 4 0 0 World Championships 9 5 0 World Cup 5 0 1 Total 18 5 1 Olympic Games 1992 Barcelona Singles 1992 Barcelona Doubles 1996 Atlanta Singles 1996 Atlanta Doubles World Championships 1989 Dortmund Doubles 1991 Chiba City Singles 1993 Gothenburg Team 1995 Tianjin Singles 1995 Tianjin Doubles 1995 Tianjin Team 1997 Manchester Singles 1997 Manchester Doubles 1997 Manchester Team 1991 Chiba City Doubles 1991 Chiba City Team 1993 Gothenburg Doubles 1995 Tianjin Mixed Doubles 1997 Manchester Mixed Doubles World Cup 1990 Hokkaido, Aomori, Niig Team 1991 Barcelona Team 1995 Atlanta Team 1992 Las Vegas Doubles 1996 Hong Kong Singles 1990 Seoul Doubles Asian Championships 1994 Tianjin Singles 1994 Tianjin Mixed Doubles 1994 Tianjin Team 1994 Tianjin Doubles

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Deng was born in Zhengzhou, Henan, on February 6, 1973.

Deng began playing table tennis aged five, and four years later she won the provincial junior championship. She was age 13 when she won her first national championship.

Despite her success, she was initially denied a spot on the national team because she was so short (she stood only 1.5 metres [4 feet 11 inches] tall). She was finally included on the national team in 1988. She teamed with Qiao Hong to win her first world championship title in the women's doubles competition in 1989. Two years later in 1991, Deng won her first singles world championship.

At the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain, she won a gold medal in both the singles and doubles competitions and repeated the feat at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA. She also earned singles and doubles titles at the 1995 and 1997 world championships.

When she retired at the age of 24, she had won more titles than any other player in this sport, including four Olympic gold medals, and had been World Champion 18 times. From 1990 to 1997, she retained the title of world No. 1 ranked female table tennis player for 8 years. She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined the International Table Tennis Federation Hall of Fame in 2003.

Deng is still deeply involved with the national Chinese table tennis scene and frequently speaks to the media. She also was a color-commentator for the Women's World Cup in 2020.^[1] In June 2021, Deng claimed that Mima Ito was not a serious threat to the Chinese women's Olympic hopes.^[2]

After retiring at the end of the 1997 season, Deng served on the International Olympic Committee's ethics and athletes commissions. She is also a member of the elite Laureus World Sports Academy, and a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

She gained a bachelor's degree from Tsinghua University, an MRes degree in Contemporary Chinese Studies from the University of Nottingham in 2002,^[3] and a PhD degree in Land Economy from the University of Cambridge (Jesus College) in 2008.^[4] Her thesis title is: "Olympic branding and global competition: the case of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games".^[5] Her research work coincides with her professional focus on the marketing, management and development of the 2008 Beijing Olympics as a member of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.

In 2007, she married Lin Zhigang, also a table tennis player, and later gave birth to a baby boy.

In 2010, she attracted controversy due to comments she made. A student asked her, "how can one get promoted quickly?" She answered, "when your personal value overlaps with the interests of the state, your value will be enlarged without limit."^[6] Later, she also said, "In the 62 years since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the People's Daily have not published a single piece of fake news."^[6]

In 2013, she was awarded an honorary DLitt degree from the University of Nottingham Ningbo China.^[3][7]