Why China Can't Dominate Table Tennis Podium at the Olympics

Ping-pong is a favorite American pastime. But did you know it's also and Olympic sport? Well, impress your friends this summer with your knowledge of Olympic table tennis. Ping-pong has a more grown up name at the Olympics. Known as table tennis, it's been an Olympic sport since 1988. In the six summer Olympics since, the US has never won a medal. China typically dominates the sport. They won all four gold medals at the Beijing games in 2008. In fact, China is so good, the rules were changed so that one single country can't win the gold, the silver, and the bronze. Olympic table tennis consists of four events: women's singles, men's singles and men and women team events. A game is won by gaining first to 11 points, but you must beat out your opponent by at least two points. In team events, the best of five games wins, and in singles, the best of seven. how to sound like a table tennis pro. The blade is the flat, rigged part of the racket used for striking the ball. A loop is an attacking shock and the penhold, a type of grip where the racket is held as if it were a pen. Table tennis was originally developed from a game where people used to bat champagne corks from one side of a dinner table to the other. Sounds like a fun dinner to me. So who should you look out for? 16-year-old Ariel Hsing of San Jose California is the daughter of Chinese immigrants and will be representing the US in London. But according to her parents, she can only play if she keeps up A's in school. So this Olympics, impress your friends with these fun facts. See you next time on FitSugar TV.