BURLINGAME — Lily Zhang’s necklace has a charm that never fades.
It says “Lily, 012,” with the five Olympic rings.
It’s supposed to read “2012,” but the first digit fell between Zhang’s first-ever Olympic appearance in London 2012, when the 16-year-old was the third-youngest member of the U.S. team at the Games, and this summer, when Zhang will compete in her fourth Olympics in Paris.
Zhang, now 28, is as experienced as her faded necklace.
“This could be my last Olympics,” said the Palo Alto native, who plays her singles match Sunday at 11 a.m. PT. “I’m just going to try to enjoy every moment.”
No American has ever won a medal in table tennis at the Olympics. Zhang, ranked No. 29 in the world, has a different goal.
“There’s obviously pressure, but I try to look at things in a healthy way, to enjoy the moment,” she said.
It’s been a long road to get here.
It all started 21 years ago in the laundry room at Stanford, where his father was a professor. There was a ping-pong table next to the machines. While the laundry was being washed, Zhang, 7, would learn to play.
At age 9, she competed in a national tournament and played well enough to earn a spot on the U.S. Under-15 national team.
“That’s when I realized I could be good at it, do something with this,” she said.
Since then, she has always kept her foot on the accelerator, with international tournaments from the age of 9.
Over her 19-year career, Zhang has won the U.S. national championships six times, won a bronze medal at the 2021 world championships, when she won the first medal by an American in 62 years, and is on the verge of making her fourth Olympic appearance.
Her previous match in Tokyo still makes her sad.
She managed to reach the round of 16 but didn’t manage to get out of it. She tried too hard, too concerned about her world ranking, too focused on results.
“I wasn’t at my best,” she said. “I was there physically, but mentally I was so exhausted. So exhausted. Even if you ask my coach in my first round, she said she’s never seen me play like that in my life, how nervous I was, my body language, the way my face was twisting. She was really shocked.”
Zhang wasn’t sure she would be able to play again, so she took some time off to recharge.
The life of an Olympic table tennis player requires some thought.
She is on the road most of the year, playing in professional leagues in France, the United States and India, competing in tournaments all over the world and doing it at an elite level, just to earn enough money to make a living.
No American-born player has done what she has done.
“It’s really lonely,” she said. “Unless you come from powerful countries like China, Japan, Germany, where they send a whole team of coaches, physiotherapists and managers. A lot of table tennis players travel alone and do it alone. The hardest part is being quite alone.”
“But I keep moving. Barely.”
She receives energy from young people.
She met Rachel Sung, 20, of Mountain View, when she was just a little girl. They didn’t interact much, but Sung was impressed with Zhang.
“I looked up to her,” said Sung, who will make her Olympic debut in women’s doubles next week. “She’s definitely seen as the person who represents American table tennis because she’s been so successful for so many years.”
Sung said Zhang opened the door for American-born Chinese players.
“She’s the first American woman to go on to play professionally after graduating from college,” Sung said. “She showed me it was possible. No one had done it before her. She definitely led the way. It’s always hard to do something that no one has done before.”
The two men spent the month leading up to the Olympics training at the 888 Table Tennis National Training Center in Burlingame. The space is huge, one of the largest in the world, said owner Huifen Chan. It’s also home to men’s national team members Nandan and Sid Naresh.
One day in June, during training, they gave it their all, sending the balls back and forth, hitting them with crazy spin, putting their whole bodies into every shot.
“People don’t realize how physical this sport is,” Zhang said. “They think of it as a basement sport.”
But even after bad shots, even when she lost a key point, she showed no signs of distress.
“A lot of players on the field let their emotions take over and express extremely negative emotions, anger, frustration,” Sung said. “She does a good job of smiling through it all.”
It’s the pleasure that keeps Zhang going. It took her a long time to get that feeling back, the one she once felt in the Stanford laundry room.
That’s all she expects from her Olympic experience this time around.
And maybe meet Simone Biles while she’s there.
“Of course, I want to make my country proud and make the people around me proud,” Zhang said. “But at the end of the day, this is something I do for myself. This is what makes me happy. I remind myself, I don’t try to let myself be overwhelmed by what others expect of me.”
This could be the last chance for the greatest American player of all time to win an Olympic medal.
But Chan, the owner of the training center, smiles when asked about it.
“She’s already said, ‘This is the last time,’ but I think she loves the game so much that I don’t know if she’ll ever give it up,” Chan said. “A lot of up-and-coming players really look up to her. She’s an inspiring figure.”
