Photo: Bildbyrån
He is one of our biggest sports heroes ever.
Jan-Ove Waldner has experienced great success in table tennis.
But the fact is that he could have become the best in the world in a completely different sport.
There are few Swedish athletes who can match the legendary Jan-Ove Waldner. With an incredible ball talent and a personality that really stands out, he is one of our foremost sports heroes of all time.
Waldner’s success
JO dominated table tennis for many years and became known as the one who stopped the Chinese heyday in the sport. Waldner became the blue-yellow front figure who created total ping pong fever in Sweden during the 80s and 90s.
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Table tennis became part of the Swedish people’s soul and Jan-Ove Waldner stacked medals and trophies on high during his successful career. The ball genius won an Olympic gold, six World Cup gold, eleven European golds, the World Cup twice and took a total of 46 medals.
Well in another sport
He is considered one of the world’s best ping pong players of all time, but he was also really good in a completely different sport. Until the age of 15, Jan-Ove played tennis and could also become the best in the world within it.
– I think so, I probably would have been among the best in the world without taking in. On any basis I might have been the world. My serve is decent, I have the ball mind and have played a lot of tennis, he admitted himself in an old interview with Expressen.
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In the same interview, Waldner also revealed his two major childhood idols. Then he chooses a ping pong player and also the favorite player in just tennis.
“My idols as a young man were Björn Borg in tennis and Hungarian Tibor clamps in ping pong, for his delicious playing style,” Jo told the evening newspaper.
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