Shin Yubin: “I want to build up my skills and be a truly good person as a human being myself too. And I want to become a Player who can keep giving it my all every day.”

Shin Yubin won two medals in Mixed Doubles and the team event at the Paris Olympics.

In Korea, a “Table tennis boom” erupted, and Shin Yubin became so popular that she was called the “nation’s little sister.” We asked her, now an Olympic medalist, to look back on the frenzy of the Paris Olympics.
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Photo Manabu Nakagawa / ITTF Remy Gros 

[Shin Yubin]
Born July 5, 2004, from Suwon, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. She drew attention as a table tennis prodigy from an early age and has been active on the international stage since she was 15. At the 2023 Asian Games, she won the women’s doubles title and took bronze in Singles. At the 2023 World Championships, she won silver in women’s doubles. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won bronze in Mixed Doubles and the women’s team event. World ranking: 9th (as of January 10). In T League, she belongs to Kyushu Astida

A letter handed to Shin Yubin by Coach Wu Guangxian after she was subjected to backlash. She was deeply moved and given strength

At the Paris Olympics, held when she was 20, Shin Yubin won two medals and became a national heroine.

At WTT Finals Fukuoka (November 2024), she kindly responded to an interview after her Match, and her manner of speaking gave the impression of a smart athlete.

Shin Yubin, who had been drawing attention as a table tennis prodigy, did not go on to high school after graduating middle school, but instead joined Korean Air, a company team, and began her career as a professional Player. While she is regarded as a Player who will carry the future of Korean table tennis, she is also devoted to social service, such as donating athletic shoes to a child welfare facility with her first salary. It has been reported that she still donates the prize money from medals she has won at tournaments to child care facilities and hospitals, and that the proceeds from a post-Olympics commercial contract with a food manufacturer were also donated to the Korea Elementary School Table Tennis Federation.

She had been showing such noble behavior since her teens, but in the past she also came under backlash. According to former Korea national team coach Wu Guangxian, after Korea lost to China at the World Championships held in Busan in February 2024, criticism such as “too overweight” and “not enough practice” poured in through the media and social media.

“At 19, Shin Yubin was going through a very difficult time both mentally and physically. Even if she had something on her mind, she stayed silent because she thought she would be criticized again if she spoke about it” (Wu Guangxian).