The year he turned 15, in the third year of Naedong Middle School in Bucheon, he became the youngest national team member in men’s table tennis and went to the world championships, where he lost in the first round. In 1999, Dong-A Ilbo writes, he swept the singles and doubles at the Asian Youth Championships. In 2000, he lost in the first round of men’s singles at the Sydney Olympics.
In 2001, he won the singles, doubles and team events at the national championships. In 2002, he won men’s doubles gold at the Busan Asian Games, paired with Lee Chul-seung. In 2003, he won the singles at the national championships by category.
The breakthrough yearIn May 2004, the year he turned 22, he won the men’s singles at the Egypt Open, his first pro tour title. In August, he beat China’s Wang Hao 4-2 in the final of men’s singles at the Athens Olympics to win gold. It was the first Olympic gold for Korean table tennis since the 1988 Seoul Games, 16 years earlier. Korea Economic Daily wrote that he could clearly be called the star among Korean athletes at the Games. Later that month, it was announced that he would be loaned to a Chinese team in Sichuan from October to play in the Super League.
In 2005, he won the Toyota Cup in Aichi, Japan. In March 2006, he won a Super Circuit event of Japan’s pro league by beating Timo Boll, then ranked No. 2 in the world, and in December he took silver in the men’s team event at the Doha Asian Games. In 2007, he reached the semifinal of men’s singles at the world championships and took bronze. In 2008, he won the national championships singles for the first time in six years and took bronze in the team event at the Beijing Olympics. He lost in the singles round of 32, so he did not win a second straight gold.
In 2011, he lost 3-4 to Wang Hao in a seven-game match in the round of 16 of the world championships singles. In 2012, he won silver in the men’s team event at the London Olympics. In 2014, he announced his retirement from playing and became a coach of the men’s national team.
In 2015, the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee chose him as Korea’s candidate for the IOC Athletes’ Commission. In 2016, he was elected in the Rio Olympics Athletes’ Commission vote, finishing second among 23 candidates. In 2017, he became a director of the Korea Table Tennis Association. In 2018, he served as mayor of the Pyeongchang Olympics athletes’ village.
In 2019, he became president of the Korea Table Tennis Association in a by-election. In 2020, he was re-elected. In 2021, he was elected vice chair of the IOC Athletes’ Commission, which Edaily reports as the first time an Asian held the post. In 2022, he became co-chair of the Busan World Table Tennis Championships organizing committee. In 2023, he served as co-chair of the Pyeongchang Asian Table Tennis Championships organizing committee. In February 2024, he oversaw the Busan World Table Tennis Championships as co-chair of the organizing committee, and in September he stepped down as association president. In December, he announced a run for president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.
In January 2025, the year he turned 43, he was elected 42nd president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee and took office in February. In 2026, he attended the send-off ceremonies for the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics team and the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games team as council president.
Ryu Seung-min (born Aug 5, 1982) was named the youngest men’s table tennis national team member on Mar 6, 1997, the year he turned 15, and became known when he beat Wang Hao in the men’s singles final at the Athens Olympics to win gold on Aug 23, 2004, the year he turned 22. On Jan 14, 2025, the year he turned 43, he was elected 42nd president of the Korean Sport & Olympic Committee.
Ages are by calendar year (the year minus the birth year), birthdays aside.