Ruth Aarons Ruth was born in 1918. She was initially an opera singer. She was a tennis player before she became a ping pong player. She is very famous with her “shakehand” grip and it is now well-known to everyone. Her main achievements were winning two gold medals in 1936 and 1937 in the World Table Tennis Championships. More interestingly, she was the only American during these matches! Though she was born in a very wealthy Jewish family, she later lived in New York City. |
Next up, let’s look at Illija. Illija was a former Serbian-Yugoslav. However, he became an American later. He has a record of competing in the 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, and 2004 Summer Olympics! He was the top player in the Yugoslavian Junior National Table Tennis Team. What is more shocking is that he was only 14 by then! Over the next twelve years, he became the top player in Yugoslavia, and he later played for the United States’ team.
Last but not least, Laszlo Bellak was a Hungarian and later became an American as well. Unlike Illija who started playing ping pong while he was nine, Laszlo started playing when he was 13, on his birthday. He has represented Hungary for 59 times in international competition. Among the World Championship he competed, he won a total of 21 medals! One more interesting fact about him: he was a 23 time U.S. Champion and he won the men’s championship for each age division too!
Aside from their personal achievement in ping pong, there’s definitely something we can learn from this. They may come from different places and did different things before focusing on ping pong, their spirit of holding on to a principle has brought them these medals. There is a saying that goes, “Nothing is impossible to a willing heart!”
Also, check out Illija Lupulesku's 2010 National Championship Men Singles Quarterfinal here !
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