Most 12-year-olds spend their summers going to the beach or hanging out with friends while they have a break from school, but Hend Zaza is doing things a bit differently from most of her peers. She’s trying to win an Olympic gold medal in Tokyo.
Zaza is a table tennis player who is representing Syria at the Olympic Games. She is the youngest athlete at the Tokyo Olympics this year and the youngest Olympic athlete since 1968.
Zaza told BBC News this week that she began playing table tennis when she was 5 years old. She is the Syrian table tennis champion for all age categories — that’s right, all. That means Zaza is the best table tennis player in Syria, period.
Zaza said her brother has served as her inspiration.
“I started the game because I wanted to be like my brother, who was a national champion,” Zaza said, via BBC’s translation. “I was watching his videos and told him I wanted to be like him. He encouraged me a lot and said if I work hard I could achieve a lot.”
He was right. Zaza qualified for the Olympics by winning the Western Asia Olympic Qualification Tournament in Jordan. And, get this — she defeated 43-year-old Marina Sahakian in the final match.
Zaza is only the second Syrian table tennis player to make it to the Olympics. It goes without saying that she is making her country proud.
