Power ranking every single sport at the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics

20. Table Tennis

We’re taking to the basements of America and Asia to play one of the great tabletop games in existence. Table tennis, otherwise known as ping pong, was created as an after-dinner parlor game. As the decades progressed, so did the game of table tennis. More and more companies filed patents on the various details of the game, including changing the barrier to a net and using a celluloid ball, now known as a ping pong ball, over much harder balls like golf balls. 

Today, it’s one of the most popular games in the world. Almost everyone has played table tennis at least once. And it’s one of the most interesting games in the Olympics. Since we’ve all played the game, there’s a familiarity with watching someone play it on TV. However, this isn’t your father’s ping pong. This is intense.

The rallies that happen at the Olympics are fast and furious. The ball seems like it’s going a million miles per hour, and since the two players are so close to each other, the reaction time is exquisite. Spectators could break a neck just trying to follow the volley. 

Table Tennis joined the Olympic ranks back in 1988, and it’s been so fun to watch ever since. Truly, this is the underrated sport of the Olympics. It’s impossible to look away. If you are walking by a TV and ping pong finals are on, you’re going to stop at least for a moment. You want to see this insane level of skill on display. That’s what we want from our Olympic Games.