Following is a list of table tennis champions from the previous Olympic Games. Table tennis became an official event of the Olympic Games in Seoul in 1988.

Men's singles:

2000 Sydney: Kong Linghui, China

1996 Atlanta: Liu Guoliang, China

1992 Barcelona: Jan-Ove Waldner, Sweden

1988 Seoul: Yoo Nam-Kyu, South Korea

Men's doubles:

2000 Sydney: Wang Liqin/Yan Sen, China

1996 Atlanta: Liu Guoliang/Kong Linghui, China

1992 Barcelona: Lu Lin/Wang Tao, China

1988 Seoul: Wei Qingguang/Chen Longcan, China

Women's singles:

2000 Sydney: Wang Nan, China

1996 Atlanta: Deng Yaping, China

1992 Barcelona: Deng Yaping, China

1988 Seoul: Chen Jing, China

Women's doubles:

2000 Sydney: Li Ju/Wang Nan, China

1996 Atlanta: Qiao Hong/Deng Yaping, China

1992 Barcelona: Deng Yaping/Qiao Hong, China

1988 Seoul: Yang Young-Ja/Hyun Jung-Hwa, South Korea

Men's table tennis rankings ahead of Olympic draw

1. Wang Liqin, China

2. Ma Lin, China

3. Ryu Seung Min, South Korea

4. Wang Hao, China

5. Chuan Chih-Yuan, Chinese Taipei

6. Vladimir Samsonov, Belarus

7. Chen Qi, China (to compete in Olympic doubles only)

8. Werner Schlager, Austria

9. Kalinikos Kreanga, Greece

10. Kong Linghui, China (to compete in doubles only)

11. Timo Boll, Germany

12. Liu Guozheng, China (not to compete at the Games)

13. Chiang Peng-Lung, Chinese Taipei

14. Hao Shuai China (not to compete at the Games)

15. Joo Se Hyuk, South Korea

16. Jean-Michel Saive, Belgium

17. Oh Sang Eun, South Korea

18. Petr Korbel, Czech Republic

19. Michael Maze, Denmark

20. Jan-Ove Waldner, Sweden

Women's table tennis rankings ahead of Olympic draw

1. Zhang Yining, China

2. Wang Nan, China

3. Niu Jianfeng, China

4. Guo Yue, China (to compete in doubles only at the Games)

5. Guo Yan, China (not to compete at the Games)

6. Kim Kyung Ah, South Korea

7. Tamara Boros, Croatia

8. Li Jia Wei, Singapore

9. Li Ju, China (not to compete at the Games)

10. Tie Yana, Hong Kong, China

11. Liu Jia, Austria

12. Gao Jun, United States

13. Li Nan, China (not to compete at the Games)

14. Lin Ling, Hong Kong

15. Lau Sui Fei, Hong Kong

16. Mihaela Steff, Romania

17. Aya Umemura, Japan

18. Fan Ying, China (not to compete at the Games)

19. Zhang Rui, Hong Kong (not to compete at the Games)

20. Jiang Huajun, China (not to compete at the Games)