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Name: Wang Nan
Born: October 23, 1978 in Fushun, Liaoning province

Career highlights: Gold medals in singles and doubles, Sydney 2000; Gold medal in doubles, Athens 2004; gold medal in singles and doubles, 1999 world championships

A billionaire husband, a trophy cabinet bulging with silverware and national hero status. For many table tennis fans, it's a mystery that Wang Nan still has the hunger to continue.

Talk of the 29-year-old's retirement reached fever pitch in early 2006 when she married Guo Bin, a Shandong-based property tycoon. The wear and tear of professional table tennis versus the pampered life of a billionaire's wife?


That's a no-brainer for many, but what they fail to take into account is the factor that drives Wang above all else - a burning sense of unfinished business.

The Liaoning native was anointed heir apparent to retired great Deng Yaping after she swept to the singles and doubles titles at the world championships in 1999. She repeated the feat at the Sydney Olympics, cementing her status as the new pin-up of what the Chinese regard as their national sport.

Wang was expected to dominate just as Deng did - she won two gold medals in both Barcelona and Atlanta - but Wang was left stunned when she was beaten in the quarter-finals at the Athens Games by Singaporean Li Jiawei.

Wang still managed gold in the doubles - in partnership with Zhang Yining - but it was scant  consolation for missing out on the big prize.

 
'Honestly, the whole family would like her to retire after so many years of intensive training and competition and spend more time with us,' said her father, Wang Dezhan.  'But we respect her decision. The  real issue here is that she doesn't think her mission in table tennis is over.'

Wang Dezhan didn't say what exactly that mission was, but the inference is clear. If she can bounce back from the Athens disappointment and win the singles and doubles this summer, she will surpass Deng and diver Fu Mingxia's record tally of four gold medals each. The lure of such a monumental achievement would seem impossible to resist.


'I would put my money on the experience factor in her game,' said Cai Meng, a CCTV table tennis commentator. 'Age might have affected her  stamina, but there is no one more reliable or consistent than Wang, Chinese or foreign.'




No 47: Wang Nan