rankings and placed Persson in 20th position and Saive in 21st. Eventually, Saive did play an extra qualification tournament in Budapest, finishing third and thus qualified for his seventh successive Summer Olympics. Saive and Persson, along with Croatian Zoran Primorac, were the first table tennis players to compete at seven Olympics, having been at all games since the sport was introduced in 1988. His successes made him the best Belgian table tennis player. He is also considered to be one of Belgium's most prolific athletes as he was elected as Sports Personality of the Year in 1991 and 1994. Jean-Michel Saive is known for his victories but also for his sportsmanship. He was awarded the UNESCO World Award of Fair Play in 1989. On 4 December 2015, Saive officially announced his retirement as a player. Saive was narrowly beaten in his first attempt to be elected President of the International Table Tennis Federation in May 2017. See also List of athletes with the most appearances at Olympic Games References External links Biography on Belgium's federal portal Saive retires 1969 births Living people Belgian male table tennis players Olympic table tennis players of Belgium Table tennis players at the 1988 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1992 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 1996 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2004 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2008 Summer Olympics Table tennis players at the 2012 Summer Olympics Walloon sportspeople Sportspeople from Liège European Games competitors for Belgium Table tennis players at the 2015 European Games