Truls Möregårdh has become a super celebrity in China after the success in the Olympics.
Now he reveals his rivals’ unexpected words to him between races.
– Sometimes they sound sad, he says.
Sarah Sjöström and Armand Duplantis were expected names in advance when talking about Sweden’s potential Olympic heroes during the games in Paris. But not many had expected that Truls Möregårdh would charm an entire world, and win all the way to two medals.
Huge success in the Olympics
Some called it the biggest upset of this Olympic summer when Truls Möregårdh defeated the superior Chinese world number one Wang Chuqin en route to the final, and he could hardly comprehend it himself when it became clear that he had advanced in the tournament. In the end, the Chinese superstar Fan Zhendong was too difficult in the final, but Truls Möregårdh’s silver made the whole table tennis world drop its jaw.
And it wasn’t many days before the next super shock came. In the table tennis team competition, Sweden, led by Truls Möregårdh, made it all the way to the final, but this time too the Chinese super trio proved too difficult – but with his two Olympic silvers, Truls Möregårdh became one of the Games’ big winners, and with that awaits a completely new everyday life. Nowadays, Truls Möregårdh is a superstar in China, where table tennis is a national sport.
Rivals’ harsh words
Just as many people who live in Sweden regularly compete in table tennis in China, and there is real pressure on the players who get to represent the country in major championships to deliver. Truls Möregårdh even believes that the players expressed sadness at how much ping-pong they are forced to play.
– We have fun in Sweden when we play. We train hard, but we also have other things in life. The Chinese train very hard and do not have much free time. Sometimes they sound a little sad because they play so much table tennis when I talk to them, Möregårdh told TT.
Truls Möregårdh otherwise notices in several ways how his popularity has exploded since the success in the Olympics, especially then in China.
– Ping-pong is huge there. I guess I’ve become more famous and have more followers on social media, and then people come up and want autographs. My Chinese nickname is “god”. It feels a little strange to be called a god, he says.
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