In the ever-expanding realm of origin stories, that of "The Dream Team" is fairly prosaic. In advance of the 1992 Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) lifted the ban on professional basketball players. The US men's team of Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, et al. was so dominant, they cruised to the gold medal, winning each game by an average of nearly 44 points. In table tennis, every team China sends to an international competition is a dream team. This is especially true in the Olympics, where China has won 28 of 32 gold medals since table tennis debuted in 1988. While much of this dominance can be attributed to table tennis being the biggest sport in the world's biggest nation, a substantial portion of the bullion is directly due to Liu Guoliang. As a player, Liu won the men's singles and doubles gold medals in Athens 1996. As the coach of the Chinese men's team, Liu's players have won every gold medal on offer since Beijing 2008. In this regard, Liu's career mirrors that of Phil Jackson in the NBA, winner of two rings as a player and 11 as a coach. Since the last sweep in Rio, Liu has been promoted to President of the Chinese Table Tennis Association (CTTA). Despite his lofty office, Liu remains very much involved in day-to-day drills, his affable smile belying an uncompromising demand for consistent excellence from his team. Now, the delayed Olympics are a mere week from opening. Arriving amid great fanfare and lugging the incalculable weight of expectations, the Chinese national team arrived in full pandemic gear at Japan's Narita International Airport and reported straight to their COVID-19 tests. "It takes a little longer than before," says President Liu, "but the trip is fairly smooth and my whole team is in good condition and ready for title challenges." Underscoring the need for such an abundance of caution, one athlete in the Olympic village has already tested positive for COVID-19. While the unnamed athlete has been quarantined in a hotel, it is unknown who else may already have been exposed. Given the obvious potential for contagion, the Olympics themselves hang in the balance. Meanwhile, the US men's Olympic team is a shadow of its former self, highly vulnerable to the next global generation inspired by their domestic forbears. The Chinese team, on the other hand, looks stronger than ever. Barring a catastrophic contagion other unforeseen calamity, they look to retain their rightful position as the new Dream Team.

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