Meet The Incredible One-Handed Olympic Table Tennis Player From Poland

Meet The Incredible One-Handed Olympic Table Tennis Player From Poland

Natalia Partyka is a 23-year-old Polish table tennis player.
Partyka may be a heavy underdog to more dominant table tennis players from Asia, but her Olympic story gets more impressive when you find out she was born without a right hand or forearm.

Partyka reached international table tennis fame by winning gold medals in the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics (she's participating in this year's Paralympics games in London as well). She also won the 2004 European Championships, an event intended for "able-bodied" athletes.

 

Partyka's first Olympics were in Beijing in 2008.

 Her winnings have catapulted her to No. 68 in the world rankings.

 To her credit, Partyka doesn't let her "disability" slow her down. She even says she's "a bit bored" about being asked about all the time, calling it "nothing." If it inspires others, however, she's okay with that.

"Maybe someone will see me and realize that their own disability is not the end of the world.

 "Maybe someone will look at me and think they can achieve something bigger than they thought. Maybe sometimes you have to work a little bit harder if you really want to do something. If I'm an inspiration I can't complain."

 The only part of her game where her one-handedness comes into play is when she's serving. Partyka has to cradle the ball in the crook of her right elbow, instead of tossing it up with her off-hand like her opponents.
This is what her serve looks like:

 Unfortunately her singles run in Olympic table tennis ended recently when she lost in the third round to Jie Li of the Netherlands. Partyka will take part in Olympic team table tennis once that gets going Friday and she's one of the favorites in the Paralympics as well, which start August 20.