It will surprise most of you that the ITTF actually decided to join the Olympic Games in 1937!
The minutes of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) held at the 1937 World Championships in
Baden, Austria, summarize the resolution and vote in just two sentences:
"It was decided to instruct the Advisory Committee
to get in touch with the Preparatory Commission for
the forthcoming Olympiad at Tokio with a view to
the inclusion of Table Tennis in that Olympiad. All
countries in favor except England who were against."
Even more surprising is that after this near unanimous vote, the issue of Table Tennis becoming an
Olympic sport was never again mentioned in the AGM until some 40 years later!
One has to wonder why. About a year later, while installing documents in the Archives website, I discovered the answer, in some detailed minutes of the 1946 London Conference, hosted by Montagu to revive the ITTF after the war. When directly asked for his position, Montagu replied:
"I am opposed to the inclusion of Table Tennis in the Olympic Games. ? Firstly, I think the Olympic Games should be restricted to Athletics and similar events, where athletes vie with each other, not extend to sports of Football or Lawn Tennis type.
"Second, I think sports that do not have their own world title competitions need the Olympic Games. We, and similarly Lawn Tennis with the Davis Cup, do not need the Olympics. For us they are a duplication. Lawn Tennis dropped out of the Olympics after, I think, 1924. Third, it is not certain that if we applied we would be successful. If we were refused it would be a rebuff and a humiliation to the game."
Montagu's reasoning requires some analysis. Table Tennis is indeed a sport where athletes vie with each other, though back in the 1940s most players were hardly the well-conditioned superb athletes of Olympic standards.
Regarding his second point, Lawn Tennis did in fact withdraw from the Olympic community, shortly before the 1928 Games began in Amsterdam, and did not reappear until 1988. Lawn Tennis leaders felt that the Olympics would become an unwanted rival to Wimbledon. However, it is difficult to accept this argument given the 4-year Olympic cycle, and the participants would certainly gain national and worldwide recognition, as well as an experience of a lifetime. Mr. Ollen of Sweden cited the benefits of receiving a share of funds for training Olympic athletes.
Montagu's third point was certainly a legitimate concern, though A.K.Vint noted the potential prestige of acceptance. A vote was then taken: Yes: Sweden, Denmark, Netherlands, Jersey. No: Czechoslovakia. Undecided: England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland and France. Montagu then proposed that each member nation's Olympic Committee should be approached for their opinions, and the results referred to the Advisory Committee for a decision.
Some member nations had concerns about Table Tennis joining the Olympics because of the amateur issue, since the ITTF distinction between amateur and professional was eliminated in 1935. Montagu was rightly proud of this even though it could cause a conflict with Olympic requirement but he dismissed the issue at the 1946 London Conference:
"On the amateur question, we can easily comply with Olympic requirements in this respect by simply meeting and agreeing by Federation decision that no players shall be included who have been paid for playing."
When Montagu retired and H.Roy Evans of Wales became ITTF President in 1967, he set a goal
for Table Tennis to become part of the Olympic sport community. We next see a mention in
the AGM minutes of the Olympics in 1977. The ITTF Constitution had to be amended to comply
with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) requirements. The amendment proposal passed by a
vote of 65-12, clearing the way for recognition of Table Tennis by the IOC.
The 84th session of the IOC was held in Baden, 1981, and Table Tennis was admitted to the
summer Olympics program, beginning with the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea.
Since then Table Tennis has distinguished itself in the Olympic Games in Barcelona 1992,
Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens in 2004, with ever increasing worldwide television
viewing audiences. Table Tennis ranked number 5 in all sports at the Athens Olympic Games!
Beginning in Beijing 2008, the format of the Table Tennis competition will change. The Doubles
events will be replaced by a Team event, similar to the Davis Cup format in Tennis: 2 Singles,
1 Doubles and then 2 Singles, where a single player can only play in two of the contests.
For more details on the Olympic Qualifications system and format of the Table Tennis events,
visit the ITTF homepage.
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