Amy Wang is the table tennis success story that almost never happened.
Devastated by a heartbreaking loss in the final match during national selections for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, she nearly walked away from the sport entirely.
But a crushed dream is still a dream, after all. So following a lengthy sabbatical, she returned to the table, bat in hand, encouraged by her father to give the sport another shot.
“We had a great relationship growing up,” she said of her former coach and father. “My dad has always been my mentor, my best friend.
“Having him by my corner, I trusted him a lot,” she explained. “He gave me a lot of great advice, a lot of great life lessons.
“He really taught me to stand up again after a very devastating loss. He gave me the support and encouragement to try and retry again.”
Repaying his endless encouragement in the best way possible, Wang finally realised their shared dream at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games – going viral in the process through a chance encounter with basketball stars Anthony Edwards and Steph Curry.
“I think he was a little bit jealous of me,” Wang admitted during an exclusive interview with Olympics.com at the 2026 US Smash. “That I got to see LeBron James and Steph Curry and all that.
“But I think that he was most proud of me as a person, or as an athlete, being able to make the Olympics. Because that was both of our dreams.”
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READ MORE: https://www.olympics.com/en/news/table-tennis-ucla-amy-wang-full-circle-shared-olympic-dream-la28
