Chinese-Chilean table tennis player makes Olympics debut at age 58 in the Paris Games

SANTIAGO, Chile -- Table tennis player Zeng Zhiying left China in 1989, the same year of the Tiananmen Square massacre, to teach the sport in northern Chile. Fast-forward 35 years, she will debut in the Olympic Games at age 58 under the name she adopted in the South American nation: Tania.

Tania Zeng, who became famous in Chile after winning a bronze medal at the Pan American Games in Santiago last year, retired from table tennis long ago. Though the sport brought her to Chile, she stopped playing to have more time to dedicate to a business she opened and eventually start a family. Her dream of becoming a professional athlete returned during the pandemic. Her pinnacle will be reached in Paris.

“I never imagined (making it to the Olympic Games) because I took it up for entertainment, to do some sport," Zeng said in an interview with The Associated Press at the country's Olympic training center. "I gained confidence by playing a lot. Since I always won, I liked playing more and more.

“Qualifying for an Olympics is a big, gigantic dream, and being able to fulfill it at that age is a huge happiness,” said Zeng, the oldest athlete in her country's delegation.

Born in Foshan, in southern China, Zeng is the daughter of a local table tennis coach. As a child, she used to follow her mother to professional table tennis training sessions. For a decade, the Chinese-Chilean athlete was a high-performance player.

But her life took a turn in 1989, when she accepted an invitation to teach the sport to young athletes in Arica, in the far north of Chile. She married soon afterward and moved to Iquique, also in northern Chile, another city where Chinese presence was unlikely at the time.

Zeng is currently the 151st-ranked table tennis player. She is part of Chile's national team, beating Dominican Eva Peña Brito in her debut in the women's singles table tennis tournament at the Pan American Games. She lost to American Lily Ann Zhang in the following round but still managed to win the bronze in the team competition.

Zeng's life is now split between Iquique and Santiago, fueled by the appetite for the game and the affection of the fans.

“Everyone knows me, greets me, wants a photo and for me it’s just joy,” she said. “I am already Chilean in heart and soul, everything. They are going to bury me here.”

Zeng will play in Paris with more experience and the same determination to fulfill a lifelong dream. She hopes no injuries affect her performance at the Olympics, which is a concern for any older athlete.

“Any bad movement I could get injured, and that worries me a lot,” Zeng said.

On Saturday, not only Chileans will be glued to TV to follow a woman they now call their “Olympic grandmother.” Zeng’s brother and her 92-year-old father also will watch from China.

“When he found out that I had qualified, he jumped out of his chair, shouting. ... Go figure, a 92-year-old man,” Zeng said. “And he immediately told me: ‘It is your lifelong dream, which is now fulfilled. Go at it, go with everything.’”

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AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games