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{{short description|Chinese table tennis player (born 1973)|bot=PearBOT 5}}
{{family name hatnote|[[Deng (Chinese surname)|Deng]]|lang=Chinese}}
{{Infobox table tennis player
| name= Deng Yaping
| native_name =邓亚萍
| native_name_lang =zh-hans-CN
| image=邓亚萍女士.png
| imagesize= 225px
| caption = Deng Yaping in 2023
| nationality = Chinese
| playingstyle = 
| birth_date  = {{birth date and age|1973|02|05|df=y}}
| birth_place = [[Zhengzhou]], [[Henan]], [[China]]
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| height =1.5 m 
| weight = 
| medaltemplates = 
{{MedalSport | Women's [[table tennis]]}}
{{MedalCountry | {{CHN}} }}
{{MedalCount|total=yes
|[[Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]|4|0|0
|[[World Table Tennis Championships|World Championships]]|9|5|0
|[[Table Tennis World Cup|World Cup]]|5|0|1
}}
{{MedalCompetition|[[Table tennis at the Summer Olympics|Olympic Games]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Table tennis at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's singles|Singles]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1992 Summer Olympics|1992 Barcelona]] | [[Table tennis at the 1992 Summer Olympics – Women's doubles|Doubles]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta]] | [[Table tennis at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's singles|Singles]]}}
{{MedalGold | [[1996 Summer Olympics|1996 Atlanta]] | [[Table tennis at the 1996 Summer Olympics – Women's doubles|Doubles]]}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[World Table Tennis Championships|World Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1989 Dortmund | Doubles}}
{{MedalGold | 1991 Chiba City | Singles}}
{{MedalGold | 1993 Gothenburg | Team}}
{{MedalGold | 1995 Tianjin | Singles}}
{{MedalGold | 1995 Tianjin | Doubles}}
{{MedalGold | 1995 Tianjin | Team}}
{{MedalGold | 1997 Manchester | Singles}}
{{MedalGold | 1997 Manchester | Doubles}}
{{MedalGold | 1997 Manchester | Team}}
{{MedalSilver | 1991 Chiba City | Doubles}}
{{MedalSilver | 1991 Chiba City | Team}}
{{MedalSilver | 1993 Gothenburg | Doubles}}
{{MedalSilver | 1995 Tianjin | Mixed Doubles}}
{{MedalSilver | 1997 Manchester | Mixed Doubles}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Table Tennis World Cup|World Cup]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1990 Hokkaido, Aomori, Niig | Team}}
{{MedalGold | 1991 Barcelona | Team}}
{{MedalGold | 1995 Atlanta | Team}}
{{MedalGold | 1992 Las Vegas | Doubles}}
{{MedalGold | 1996 Hong Kong | Singles}}
{{MedalBronze | 1990 Seoul | Doubles}}
{{MedalCompetition | [[Asian Table Tennis Championships|Asian Championships]]}}
{{MedalGold | 1994 Tianjin | Singles}}
{{MedalGold | 1994 Tianjin | Mixed Doubles}}
{{MedalGold | 1994 Tianjin | Team}}
{{MedalSilver | 1994 Tianjin | Doubles}}
|}}
'''Deng Yaping''' ({{zh|s=邓亚萍|p=Dèng Yàpíng}}; born February 5, 1973) is a Chinese [[table tennis]] player, who won eighteen world championships including four [[Olympic Games|Olympic]] championships between 1989 and 1997. She is regarded as one of the greatest players in the history of the sport.

==Early life and education==
Deng was born in [[Zhengzhou]], [[Henan]], on February 5, 1973.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Deng-Yaping |title=Deng Yaping |website=[[Encyclopædia Britannica]] |access-date=5 June 2025}}</ref>

== Career ==
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&nbsp;metres [4&nbsp;feet 11&nbsp;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 Summer Olympics|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]], [[United States|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 Games|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&nbsp;years. She was voted Chinese female athlete of the century, and joined the [[International Table Tennis Federation]] [[Hall of Fame]] in 2003.

===Successes===
*40th [[World Table Tennis Championship]] (1989) Women's Double '''Gold'''.
*1st [[Table Tennis World Cup]] (1990) Women's Team '''Gold'''.
*41st World Table Tennis Championship (1991) Women's Single '''Gold''', Women's Team '''Silver''', Women's Double '''Silver'''.
*2nd Table Tennis World Cup (1991–1992) Women's Team '''Gold''', Women's Double '''Gold'''.
*25th [[Olympic Games]] (1992) Table Tennis Women's Single '''Gold''', Women's Double '''Gold'''.
*42nd World Table Tennis Championship (1993) Women's Team '''Gold''', Women's Double '''Silver'''.
*43rd World Table Tennis Championship (1995) Women's Team '''Gold''', Women's Single '''Gold''', Women's Double '''Gold''', Mixed Double '''Silver'''.
*4th Table Tennis World Cup (1995) Women's Team '''Gold'''
*26th [[Olympic Games]] (1996) Table Tennis Women's Single '''Gold''', Women's Double '''Gold'''.
*5th Table Tennis World Cup (1996) Women's Single '''Gold'''
*44th World Table Tennis Championship (1997) Women's Team '''Gold''', Women's Single '''Gold''', Women's Double '''Gold''', Mixed Double '''Silver'''.

== Post-playing career ==
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.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-07-23|title=Mima Ito vs Sun Yingsha Olympic Preview|url=https://edgesandnets.com/2021/07/22/mima-ito-vs-sun-yingsha-olympic-preview/|access-date=2021-07-23|website=edgesandnets.com|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-07-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723053311/https://edgesandnets.com/2021/07/22/mima-ito-vs-sun-yingsha-olympic-preview/|url-status=dead}}</ref> In June 2021, Deng claimed that Mima Ito was not a serious threat to the Chinese women's Olympic hopes.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2021-06-22|title=Deng Yaping: Mima Ito Is Not A Serious Threat to China|url=https://edgesandnets.com/2021/06/22/deng-yaping-mima-ito-is-not-a-serious-threat-to-china/|access-date=2021-07-23|website=edgesandnets.com|language=en-US|archive-date=2021-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210622174838/https://edgesandnets.com/2021/06/22/deng-yaping-mima-ito-is-not-a-serious-threat-to-china/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Deng was the CEO of Jike Search, a state-run [[search engine]].<ref name=":Liu">{{Cite book |last=Liu |first=Lizhi |title=From Click to Boom: The Political Economy of E-Commerce in China |publisher=[[Princeton University Press]] |year=2024 |isbn=9780691254104 |pages=43}}</ref> Jike Search failed in 2013.<ref name=":Liu" />

==Personal and political life==
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 [[Master of Research|MRes]] degree in [[Institute of Contemporary Chinese Studies|Contemporary Chinese Studies]] from the [[University of Nottingham]] in 2002,<ref name="Century Athlete">[https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/news/chinese-athlete-of-the-century-heads-back-to-university-of-nottingham Chinese Athlete of the Century heads back to University of Nottingham] - website of the [[University of Nottingham]]</ref> and a [[Doctor of Philosophy|PhD]] degree in [[Land Economy]] from the [[University of Cambridge]] ([[Jesus College, Cambridge|Jesus College]]) in 2008.<ref>[https://www.jbs.cam.ac.uk/faculty-research/centres/women/conversation-with-leaders/ Conversation with leaders: A conversation with Dr Deng Yaping] - website of the [[Cambridge Judge Business School]]</ref> Her thesis title is: "Olympic branding and global competition: the case of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games".<ref>[https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/252105 Doctoral thesis: Olympic branding and global competition : the case of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games] - website of the University of Cambridge Repository</ref> Her research work coincides with her professional focus on the marketing, management and development of the [[2008 Summer Olympics|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."<ref name="fish">{{cite web |url=http://www.dw.de/%E6%9D%8E%E5%BC%80%E5%A4%8D%E9%81%AD%E7%A6%81%E8%A8%80%E9%82%93%E4%BA%9A%E8%90%8D%E8%A2%AB%E8%B5%B7%E5%BA%95/a-16606800 |title= 李开复遭禁言，邓亚萍被起底|publisher={{lang|zh-hans|德国之声中文网}} |language=zh}}</ref> Later, she also said, "In the 62&nbsp;years since the establishment of the People's Republic of China, the ''People's Daily'' have not published a single piece of fake news."<ref name="fish" />

In 2013, she was awarded an honorary [[Doctor of Letters|DLitt]] degree from the [[University of Nottingham Ningbo China]].<ref name="Century Athlete" /><ref>[https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/manuscriptsandspecialcollections/collectionsindepth/university/women-of-nottingham/deng-yaping.aspx Manuscripts and Special Collections: Women at Nottingham - Dr Deng Yaping] - website of the [[University of Nottingham]]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Navboxes
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| list1 = {{Footer Olympic Champions Table Tennis Singles Women}}
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{{Footer World Champions Table Tennis Team Women}}
{{Footer World Cup Champions Table Tennis Singles Women}}
{{Footer World Cup Champions Table Tennis Doubles Women}}
{{Footer World Cup Champions Table Tennis Team Women}}
{{Footer ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Champions Table Tennis Singles Women}}
{{Footer ITTF World Tour Grand Finals Champions Table Tennis Doubles Women}}
{{Footer Asian Game Champions Table Tennis Singles Women}}
{{Footer Asian Game Champions Table Tennis Doubles Mixed}}
{{Footer Asian Game Champions Table Tennis Team Women}}
{{Footer Asian Champions Table Tennis Singles Women}}
{{Footer Asian Champions Table Tennis Doubles Mixed}}
{{Footer Asian Champions Table Tennis Team Women}}
{{Footer Asian Cup Champions Table Tennis Singles Women}}
{{Footer Asian Cup Champions Table Tennis Team Women}}
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{{ITTF Hall of Fame members}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deng, Yaping}}
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Nottingham]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Cambridge]]
[[Category:Olympic table tennis players for China]]
[[Category:Table tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics]]
[[Category:Olympic gold medalists for China]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Zhengzhou]]
[[Category:Tsinghua University alumni]]
[[Category:Olympic medalists in table tennis]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists in table tennis]]
[[Category:Asian Games silver medalists in table tennis]]
[[Category:Table tennis players from Henan]]
[[Category:Table tennis players at the 1990 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Table tennis players at the 1994 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Chinese female table tennis players]]
[[Category:Asian Games gold medalists for China]]
[[Category:Asian Games table tennis players for China]]
[[Category:Asian Games silver medalists for China]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1990 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1994 Asian Games]]
[[Category:Medalists at the 1992 Summer Olympics]]