We recorded the results of every single table tennis match ever played at an Olympics to curate our own unique set of interesting facts & figures about a tournament that represents the pinnacle of our sport.
Please feel free to quote any of the statistics presented on this page with proper attribution back to Racket Insight. If you’d like us to add any additional useful statistics based on our database, please do contact me directly at ‘david@racketinsight.com’ or leave a comment below.
We also have some other awesome resources you might be interested in, all available from our Olympics Hub.
Page Contents (Quick Links)
ToggleParis Table Tennis Olympics Stats
- There were 5 Gold Medals available for Table Tennis, across 5 events: Men's Singles, Women's Singles, Mixed Doubles, Men's Team, and Women's Team. Check out the final medal table.
- There were 175 individual athletes competing across the 15 days of competition. 87 men and 88 women, with a maximum of 2 athletes of each gender from a single NOC.
- 60 National Olympic Committees were represented.
- All of the Table Tennis action was held at "South Paris Arena 4", part of the Paris Expo complex which is one of Europe’s biggest convention centers
- The arena held a spectator capacity of 6,650 fans.
- 21,513 points were played across 1,175 games in 172 matches. That’s an average of 125 points played per match.
- Three matches included a game won to 0. Wong Chun Ting (HKG) during his close encounter with Ibrahima Diaw (SEN) that ended 4-3, Chen Meng (CHN) beating Sofia Polcanova (AUT), and Miwa Harimoto (JPN) against Shan Xiaona (GER) in the Women’s Team Bronze medal match.
- The longest individual game by points played was a tie, with 2 nerve-wracking games ending 19-17. Sun Yingsha (CHN) edged out Cheng I-Ching (TPE) in the 3rd game of their Women’s Singles QF match, then Archana Girish Kamath (IND) narrowly beat Shan Xiaona (GER) in their Women’s Team QF match. Interestingly, Kamath proceeded to lose the next game 11-1.
- The most points played in a single match was 144 as Britt Eerland (NED) came from 3-1 down to narrowly defeat Hana Matelová (CZE). The match finished 4-3 (13-11, 8-11, 10-12, 9-11, 11-8, 11-9, 11-9) in the Women’s Singles Round of 32. The match lasted 1 hour and 11 minutes.
- The most comprehensive victory belonged to France’s Yuan Jia Nan as she demolished Nigeria’s Fatima Bello in the Women’s Singles Round of 64. A 4-0 (11-1, 11-3, 11-3, 11-5) victory resulted in a 32 point winning margin. The match lasted just 18 minutes.
- 4 players (all Chinese) finished the Olympics with a 100% winning match record. Those were Ma Long (4/4), Chen Meng (10/10), Wang Manyu (8/8), and Fan Zhendong (10/10).
- Both Ma Long and Wang Manyu won 85.17% of the games they played. Ma Long won 12 out of the 14 doubles games he played across 4 matches. Wang Manyu won 24 of the 28 games she played across both singles and doubles, 8 matches.
- Ma Long won 63.52% of the points he played, earning him the title of the most efficient player. However, this was across 4 doubles matches with Wang Chuqin which dilutes the achievement slightly. In 2nd place, Chen Meng won 61.9% of the points she played across both events she played in.
- South Korea’s Shin Yubin played the most points, performing strongly across her 3 events. She ended up playing 1,175 points across the Olympics, winning 54.3% of them. That’s 63 games played in 14 matches.
- The most improbable win belonged to Felix Lebrun’s (FRA) escape against Dimitrij Ovtcharov (GER). In a 7-game thriller, Lebrun prevailed despite winning 4 fewer points than his opponent. He went on to win the Bronze medal.
- Across all events, Japanese players were involved in the most points (3,655) with all of their athletes playing an average of 609 points. They were followed by China (3,586), Sweden (3,035), and France (2,710).
- Paris 2024 was the first time in 24 years that either France or Sweden had won an Olympic table tennis medal of any color. They both won Olympic medals at Sydney 2000.
- All matches in the Men's Singles, Women's Singles, and Mixed Doubles were played as the best of 7 games (each game played up to 11).
- All matches in the Men's Team and Women's Team events were played as the best of 5 games (each game played up to 11). The winning team is the first to 3 match wins across both singles and doubles formats.
Discover more details with our Paris 2024 Olympic Table Tennis event guide or learn more from our summary of Olympic Table Tennis rules.
Overall Table Tennis Olympics Stats
- Table Tennis has been represented at 10 Olympics before Paris 2024, with the sport's first appearance being at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.
- A total of 909 individual players have represented their nation at an Olympic Table Tennis event.
- In Olympic history, 110 National Olympic Committees have had at least one player qualify.
- Ma Long (nicknamed "The Dragon") is the most decorated Table Tennis Olympian with a perfect record of 6 Golds from the 6 events he's played in.
- China are historically the dominant force in Olympic Table Tennis, winning 37 of the 42 Gold Medals that have been available (along with 21 Silver and 8 Bronze).
- Table Tennis was played with games up to 21 points (best of 5) until 2001. This was updated with games played up to 11 points (best of 7) in time for the Athens Olympics in 2004.
NB: Anything below this call-out has not yet been updated AFTER the Paris 2024 Olympics. We are working on updating the rest of this article as soon as possible.
Men's Singles All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Men's Singles event has been played at all 9 Olympics since Table Tennis was introduced, resulting in the award of 9 Gold Medals.
- There have been a total of 92,425 points played across 3,485 games in 879 matches.
- The average winning margin is 12.88 points over the entire match.
- The most improbable win happened when Tibor Klampár beat Chen Longcan 3-2 (21-19, 7-21, 11-21, 21-19, 21-19) despite winning 18 fewer points.
- The most comprehensive win occured when Ding Yi beat Alain Choo Choy 3-0 (21-11, 21-3, 21-4) a 45-point winning margin.
- The most points played in a single match was when Jean-Philippe Gatien beat Yu Nam-Gyu 3-2 (22-24, 25-23, 21-19, 17-21, 21-19) playing an incredible 212 points
- China are the country with the most points won (7,658), most games won (380) and most matches won (107)
- Jörgen Persson holds the record for playing the most Men's Singles matches (35) , winning 24 of them.
- Chinese players have won 82.95% of the matches they've played in.
For more details, check out our Men’s Singles Event Guide for Paris 2024.
Women's Singles All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Women's Singles event has been played at all 9 Olympics since Table Tennis was introduced, resulting in the award of 9 Gold Medals.
- There have been a total of 76,704 points played across 3,087 games in 785 matches.
- The average winning margin is 17.19 points over the entire match.
- The most improbable win happened when Jing Jun Hong beat Lijuan Geng 3-2 (16-21, 25-23, 13-21, 22-20, 23-21) despite winning 7 fewer points at the Sydney (2000) Olympics
- The most comprehensive win occured when Yang Yeong-Ja beat Jaklein Al-Duqom 3-0 (21-3, 21-9, 21-4), a 47 point winning margin at the Seoul (1988) Olympics.
- The most points played in a single match was when Lijuan Geng beat Tamara Boroš 3-2 (18-21, 21-19, 21-23, 29-27, 21-14) playing an incredible 214 points at the Sydney (2000) Olympics.
- China are the country with the most points won (7,779), most games won (399) and most matches won (117)
- Chen Jing (CHN/TPE) holds the record for playing the most Women's Singles matches (21) , winning 19 of them.
- Chinese players have won 87.97% of the matches they've played in.
For more details, check out our Women’s Singles Event Guide for Paris 2024.
Mixed Doubles All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Mixed Doubles event was introduced at Tokyo 2020, so only a single Gold medal has been handed out to date. That was to the Japanese pairing of Mima Ito & Jun Mizutani.
- There have been a total of 1,427 points played across 80 games in 16 matches.
- The average winning margin is 14.44 points over the entire match.
- Japan are the country with the most points won (230), most games won (16) and most matches won (4)
For more details, check out our Mixed Doubles Event Guide for Paris 2024.
Men's Team All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Men's Team event was introduced in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, resulting in the award of 4 Gold Medals to date.
- There have been a total of 20,240 points played across 1,090 games in 287 matches.
- The average winning margin is 9.49 points over the entire match.
- The most improbable win happened when Jun Mizutani (JPN) beat Xu Xin (CHN) (12-10, 11-9, 3-11. 7-11, 12-10) despite winning 6 fewer points at the Rio Olympics.
- The most comprehensive victories were both dealt out by Ma Long (CHN) at the Rio Olympics. He beat Ju Se-Hyeok (KOR) (11-1, 11-4, 11-4) and Maharu Yoshimura (JPN) (11-1, 11-4, 11-4)
- The most points in a Mens Team match was a Doubles match between Seiya Kishikawa & Jun Mizutani (JPN) and Li Ching & Ko Lai Chak (HKG) with the Japanese pair winning 5-11, 11-4, 12-14, 14-12, 15-13.
- South Korea are the country with the most points won (2,442). China have won the most games (158) and matches (51).
- Timo Boll (GER) has played in 34 matches within the Mens Team event, winning 24 of them.
For more details, check out our Men’s Team Event Guide for Paris 2024.
Women's Team All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Women's Team event was introduced in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics, resulting in the award of 4 Gold Medals to date.
- There have been a total of 17,632 points played across 977 games in 269 matches.
- The average winning margin is 9.49 points over the entire match.
- No matches in Women's Team history have been won with a negative score difference.
- A winning margin of 25 points has been achieved 3 times, all by Chinese players. Guo Yue & Zhang Yining beat Sandra Paović & Andrea Bakula (CRO), Wang Nan & Zhang Yining beat Joenny Valdez & Jenifer Qian (DOM), and Wang Manyu beat Liu Yuan (AUT) by a 25-point margin.
- At the Beijing Olympics, a match between Yanfei Shen (ESP) and Haruna Fukuoka (JPN) took 110 points, ending 10-12, 7-11, 11-7, 11-9, 17-15. This was repeated at the Rio Olympics with Seo Hyo-Won (KOR) beating Bernadette (ROU) 11-13, 14-12, 12-10, 9-11, 11-7
- Japan are the country with the most points won (2213). China have won the most games (153) and matches (51)
- Ai Fukuhara (JPN) has played in the most Women's Team matches (21), winning 14 of them.
For more details, check out our Women’s Team Event Guide for Paris 2024.
Men's Doubles All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Men's Doubles event was introduced in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics, but was discontinued before the 2008 Beijing Olympics in favour of the Team events. A total of 5 gold medals were handed out.
- There were a total of 26,559 points played across 817 games in 302 matches.
- The average winning margin was 5.26 points over the entire match.
- The most improbable win happened when Lee Cheol-Seung & Yu Seung-Min (KOR) beat Chang Yen-Shu & Chiang Peng-Lung (TPE) (13-21, 21-15, 10-21, 23-21, 21-18) despite winning 8 fewer points at the Sydney Olympics.
- The most comprehensive win occured when Huang Huei-Chieh & Wu Wen-Chia (TPE) beat Gilany Hosnani & Alain Choo Choy (MRI) (21-3, 21-6) with a 33 point winning margin at the Seoul Olympics.
- The most points played in a single match was when (Barcelona) Lu Lin & Wang Tao (CHN) beat Steffen Fetzner & Jörg Roßkopf (GER) (26-24,18-21, 21-18, 13-21, 21-14) playing 197 points at the Barcelona Olympics
- China are the country with the most points won (3,142), most games won (128) and most matches won (50)
- Jörg Roßkopf (GER) played the most Mens Doubles matches (23), winning 16 of them.
- Chinese players have won 90.91% of the matches they've played in.
Women's Doubles All-Time Facts & Figures
- The Women's Doubles event was introduced in 1988 at the Seoul Olympics, but was discontinued before the 2008 Beijing Olympics in favour of the Team events. A total of 5 gold medals were handed out.
- There were a total of 21,606 points played across 697 games in 241 matches.
- The average winning margin was 13.6 points over the entire match.
- The most improbable win happened when Eldijana Aganović & Tamara Boroš (CRO) beat Jing Jun Hong & Li Jia Wei (SGP) (21-16, 15-21, 9-21, 27-25, 25-23) despite winning 9 fewer points at the Sydney Olympics.
- The most comprehensive win occured when Liu Wei & Qiao Yunping (CHN) beat Berta Rodriguez & Sofija Tepes (CHI) (21-3, 21-2) by a 37 point winning margin at the Atlanta Olympics.
- The most points played in a single match was when Deng Yaping & Qiao Hong (CHN) beat Chen Chiu-Tan & Chen Jing (TPE) (18-21, 21-16, 21-19, 22-24, 23-21) playing 206 points at the Barcelona Olympics
- China are the country with the most points won (2,733), most games won (118) and most matches won (42)
- Csilla Bátorfi (HUN) played the most Women's Doubles matches (18), winning 8 of them.
- Chinese players have won 91.30% of the matches they've played in.
David's been playing Table Tennis since he was 12, earning his first coaching license in 2012. He's played in national team & individual competitions, although he prefers the more relaxed nature of a local league match! After earning his umpiring qualification in England, David moved to Australia and started Racket Insight to share information about the sport he loves.
Blade: Stiga WRB Offensive Classic | Forehand: Calibra LT | Backhand: Xiom Musa
Playstyle: The All-Rounder
Table Tennis was played with games up to 21 points (best of 5) until 2021. This was updated with games played up to 11 points (best of 7) in time for the Athens Olympics.
What?
Hey Sean, a small typo there, thanks for pointing that out. It should have said 2001 instead of 2021 which makes more sense being before the Athens Olympics.