The pride of both China and Luxembourg: the oldest Olympic table tennis player Ni Xialian inspires Chinese online

Ni Xialia from the team in Luxembourg in action in the women’s doubles 2nd round match at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on the second day of the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on July 25, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan.

“He is the pride of both China and Luxembourg.” The story of Ni Xialian, a 58-year-old member of the Luxembourg national team and the oldest Olympic table tennis player in history, has spread on Chinese social media.

A former member of the Chinese table tennis team who later moved to Luxembourg, Ni has competed in the Olympics five times since 2000, including on Sunday, when he lost his fight against 17-year-old South Korean athlete Shin Yubin in Tokyo. .

Born in Shanghai in 1979, Ni successfully won several championships as part of China’s national table tennis. He later moved to Germany and then lived in Luxembourg in 1991.

“I retired from the Chinese national team in 1986. Because table tennis was not listed as an Olympic event until 1988, I lost the opportunity to fight for our country,” Ni said in an interview with Xinmin Evening News on Sunday, asking why he never had the opportunity to represent China at the Games.

Ni said he rejected Luxembourg’s invitation to join the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics because he didn’t want to be a “foreign athlete” fighting for a country other than their homeland at the time.

“I just wanted to get married, have kids and live a happy life,” Ni said happily during the interview as her Luxembourgish husband / coach stood beside her.

Over the years, however, he eventually changed his mind.

Ni attended the Summer Olympics in Sydney as a representative of Luxembourg in 2000, starting his Olympic career at the age of 37. He then joined four more Olympics, including Beijing and London.

“I never feel alone because she’s been there for me the whole game,” Ni commented on her husband’s support.

Her husband has not been the only source of professional support in the family, one of Ni’s two children is a physiotherapist who gives Ni access to timely professional care.

Although Ni no longer wins medals for China, he still said he believed he was a symbol of the Chinese field everywhere.

“I was born and raised as a Chinese. I couldn’t stand here without cultivation and all the training for the Chinese national team,” Ni told The Migu Sports News during the Shanghai upheaval.

“I just have the honor of competing in the Olympics.”

Numerous Chinese online users have switched to social media to express their admiration for them and encourage him. “That 58-year-old aunt is such a sweet person,” one netizer wrote in a post on Sina Weibo, like China’s Twitter.

“It’s a spirit. People should enjoy the game, enjoy the Olympics,” read another comment.

“There are no boundaries in sports. It’s more important to achieve your dreams at the Olympics.”