The Olympics are right around the corner. Of course, the corner has undergone some remodeling. While still officially the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the games will be held the following summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the outbreak, the US Olympic table tennis team had already been set. The USA women's team will see Rio 2016 alum Lily Zhang return to the grandest stage in athletics. She will be joined by seasoned penholders Wang Huijing and Liu Juan. On the men's team, Nikhil Kumar, Zhou Xin will join Rio veteran Kanak Jha in Tokyo next summer. With all competition and most training suspended due to the pandemic, the Olympians have found a new way to entertain and inspire their fans. Under the aegis of USA Table Tennis (USATT), the athletes will be available to answer questions online as part of their new "Ask a Champion" outreach program. The initiative will be managed by women't team captain Wu Yue and men's captain Yijun Feng. As Feng says, "I’m very excited to start this program with USATT and for the first time, help the youngsters in the country to strive for their best with our resource during this critical time." The program is geared toward junior players, but there is no posted age limit for participants. The first Zoom meeting will be held tomorrow (Thursday, May 28) with Nikhil Kumar at 8:00 EST. In order to join the video chat, contact men's team captain Yijun Feng at yijun.feng@yahoo.com for details. Expect further meetings with other Olympians in the future, but don't wait too long to joint the party. After all, the Olympics are right around the corner.

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