Japanese table tennis player Ai Fukuhara on Sunday announced her retirement in a blog she posted on Chinese social media Weibo, which means she will not compete for Japan during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
"I've long been considering retirement since the Rio Olympics," Fukuhara said in the release. "I want to thank all the fans who support me till today. Without your support, I may never make it."
"My first table tennis training in China was at the age of five, during which I never played so many games. After the game, I was exhausted and felt the fatigue in my sore legs," she recalled her experience in China.
"I feel grateful for table tennis and will continue promoting the sport in future," she added.
Ai Fukuhara playing against China's Zhang Yining in a women's singles match at the Beijing Olympics, August 20, 2008. /VCG Photo
A child prodigy, Fukuhara began playing table tennis at the age of three and became a professional at ten. One year later, she became the youngest player ever to play in the Japanese national team.
In terms of her Olympic awards, Fukuhara won silver at the 2012 London Olympics and bronze at the 2016 Rio Olympics with the Japanese women's team.
Better known as the "Japanese doll" or "Ai-Chan", her Japanese nickname in China, the 29-year-old has developed a long-lasting relationship with the country.
At the age of five, she joined the Chinese national table tennis team for training in northeast China's Liaoning Province, where she learned to speak fluent Chinese, which also adds to her popularity across the nation.
She married Taiwanese table tennis player Chiang Hung-chieh in September 2016 and had a baby girl on October 13, 2017.
"I wish you could be happy forever, Ai-chan", a top-ranked fan account responded on Weibo.
"I have been saving money since 2016, hoping to watch your play in Tokyo. Now I feel I have lost something important. Never mind, I just wish the best of you," another fan reacted.