Timo Boll

Nickname

Bolli or Bollinger. (tischtennis.de, 02 Jul 2004)

Hobbies

Watching films, computers, electronics, golf, diving, reading and surfing the Internet. (timo-boll.com, 24 Jan 2004; tischtennis.de, 02 Jul 2004)

Occupation

Athlete

Family

Wife Rodelia

Language(s) spoken

Chinese, English

Club name

Borussia Dusseldorf, Dusseldorf, GER

Coach

Jorg Rosskopf, Helmut Hampl [personal coach] (GER) (mytischtennis.de, 26 Feb 2011)

Position and style

Classic (tischtennis.de, 02 Jul 2004)

Handedness

Left (ITTF, 19 May 2003)

Debut

1997 for Germany (timo-boll.de, 19 Nov 2007)

Injuries

He was forced to miss the 2009 World Championships because of a back injury. (bbc.co.uk, 26 Jul 2011)

In 2010 he was prevented from playing for three weeks in February because of a thigh injury and a tooth operation. (butterfly-world.com, 17 Mar 2010)

Additional information

Start of sporting career
He started playing table tennis at the age of four in the cellar of his house. (timo-boll.de, 09 Jan 2008)

Reason for taking up this sport
His father bought a ping pong table and Boll became curious about the game. Thus his father became his first coach. (dosb.de, 18 May 2011)

Ambitions
To win a gold medal at the Olympic Games in London. "I haven't thought of retiring. I still have five to six years at my prime and I still want to participate in the 2016 Olympics." Outside of sport he wants to have children after the Olympic Games in 2012. (spox.com, 28 Jul 2011; tabletennista.com, 28 Jul 2011; tabletennista.com, 18 Aug 2011)

Hero
Fellow table tennis players Jan-Ove Waldner of Sweden, Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, Kong Linghui of China and Jorg Rosskopf of Germany. (tischtennis.de, 02 Jul 2004)

Most influential person in career
Coach Helmut Hampl. (timo-boll.de, 19 Nov 2007)

Superstitions / Rituals
"I am not superstitious." (ittf.com, 01 Aug 2008)

Sporting philosophy / motto
"Use every day because life is much too short." (timo-boll.de, 19 Nov 2007)

Awards
In 2005 he received a 'Bambi' award, Germany's most coveted media prize. (timo-boll.de, 19 Nov 2007)

He received the International Table Tennis Federation's [ITTF] Fair Play Award in 2005. (heute.de, 19 Nov 2007)

In January 2003 he became the first player representing Germany to be ranked number one in the world. (NOC, 2004)

In 2008 he was decorated with the Silberne Lorbeerblatt Award. (spox.com, 28 Jul 2011)

In 2009 and 2010 he was named the Athlete of the Year in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. (spox.com, 28 Jul 2011)

General
TRAINING AND PLAYING IN CHINA
In 2006 he played with the Zhejiang club in China for three months. He trained as hard and as much as he had ever done, lost seven kilograms and described the training regime as brutal. "On my only free day I wasn't allowed to go shopping because the coaches said it would be too strenuous!" he said. (timo-boll.de, 19 Nov 2007)

SPECIAL DATE
He and wife Rodelia got married on New Year's Eve 2003. "We chose this date on purpose, for one can't forget New Year's Eve as your wedding day," he said. (butterfly-world.com, Jan 2004)

FAMILY
His father plays table tennis and helped to coach him at the start of his career. (tsv-hoechst.de, 09 Jan 2008)

BOLL IN CHINA
He is extremely popular in China. One women's magazine named him "Sexiest Man of the World", one newspaper voted him "The most Attractive Athlete of the World". (spox.com, 28 Jul 2011)

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008, Athens 2004, Sydney 2000