"You cannot imagine how it spoils one to have been a child prodigy," observed Franz Liszt. Whether the Hungarian composer was reflecting on the premature loss of Mozart, or merely humble-bragging about his own early scores, Liszt's dire warning has been borne out in countless stories of young talents gone awry. This tragic trend is seen not just in music but in every field of human endeavor. Table tennis is no different. While a generational prodigy such as Jan-Ove Waldner, the "Mozart of table tennis," enjoyed a long a successful career, there are countless more who crumbled under the pressure of precocious potential. As violin virtuoso Itzhak Perlman observed, "For every child prodigy that you know about, at least 50 potential ones have burned out before you even heard about them." Luckily, this was not the case for Ai Fukuhara. Born in Japan in 1988, Fukuhara found fame as a talented table tennis toddler. From age 3 on, she was tagged as the "Genius Table Tennis Girl." At 11, she became the youngest-ever member of the Japanese national team. At 15, she played in the 2004 Athens Olympics, the youngest-ever Olympic table tennis debutante. She went on to help Japan win team medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics before retiring to start a family. While Fukuhara will not be competing with Team Japan at this summer's Tokyo Olympics, she remains a force in Japanese table tennis. She has created a new company, "omusubi," to promote table tennis for children and persons with disabilities. Named for a rice ball favored by Fukuhara, omsubi has just cut the ribbon for its Tokyo office. Its initial efforts will focus on serving Fukuhara's native Miyagi Prefecture. omusubi also denotes the formation of bonds, such as the partnerships and friendships Fukuhara aims to create with her new enterprise. "I want to create an environment where children can make their dreams come true," said Fukuhara. "In particular, I want the people of Miyagi Prefecture to smile, so I hope to give something back through the company." Neither spoiled nor burned out, Ai Fukuhara continues to be the standard bearer for Japan. No longer a child, she remains a table tennis prodigy, not as a player but a pioneering philanthropic president.

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