Chinese singles gold medalist Zhang Jike is named for the great Brazilian soccer star Zico.

Some explanation:

First, Zhang is the family name, and Jike is the given name.

In Mandarin, the pronunciation of Zico sounds nearly identical to Jike — gee-KUH.

That's "Gee" like the letter "G'' in English. And "KUH" like the initial sound in the word "could."

Anyway, Jike's father is a former professional pingpong player who also loved soccer. But he decided early his son had a better future in pingpong than table tennis.

China's football team has usually been disappointing. Pingpong never has.

— Stephen Wade — Twitter: http://twitter.com/StephenWadeAP

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