Girl who rose to fame as a table tennis - playing toddler speaks about life in spotlight . Ai Fukuhara is Japan 's best known female table tennis player . `` I finally won at my 13th try -- the competition was hard for me mentally ( because ) The 26-year - old is also popular in China and speaks fluent Mandarin . Fukuhara managed to go one better than Olympic silver at London 2012 with gold in Rio .
Girl who rose to fame as a table tennis - playing toddler speaks about life in spotlight . Ai Fukuhara is Japan 's best known female table tennis player . The 26-year - old is also popular in China and speaks fluent Mandarin . Fukuhara managed to go one better than Olympic silver at London 2012 with gold in Rio .