--- description: Find out why Sun Yingsha was selected for TIME‘s 2026 list of the most influential people in sports. title: TIME100 Most Influential People in Sports 2026: Sun Yingsha image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17f9311caeee40cf/6a209ed3b2ecf5d1deba1b8a/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Sun-Yingsha.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Jun 09, 2026 # Sun Yingsha by [Charlie Campbell](/author/charlie-campbell/) ## Charlie Campbell Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Editor at Large  Glyn Kirk—AFP/Getty Images Sun Yingsha’s speed, anticipation, backhand counterattacks, and composure under pressure have made her one of the greatest table-tennis athletes of all time. Born in Shijiazhuang, an industrial city in China’s northern Hebei Province, Sun won three medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics—team gold, mixed doubles gold, and singles silver—helping China sweep all five golds for the first time (the silver came against teammate Chen Meng). Sun—who goes by the nickname ShaSha—then strengthened her grip on the sport in 2026 by winning the Women’s World Cup in Macao, becoming the first woman to claim three consecutive World Cup singles titles. Already the world No. 1 for more than 200 weeks, a record in the modern rankings era, Sun, 25, is the defining player of her generation, combining relentless consistency with dominance in the biggest moments. “My biggest wish on the court is to show everyone a better version of myself,” she said in a 2025 interview. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/sun-yingsha/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/sun-yingsha/"},"headline":"Sun Yingsha","datePublished":"2026-06-09T12:00:49.527Z","dateModified":"2026-06-09T12:00:49.781Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/sun-yingsha/","keywords":["list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17f9311caeee40cf/6a209ed3b2ecf5d1deba1b8a/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Sun-Yingsha.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Charlie Campbell","jobTitle":"Editor at Large","url":"https://time.com/author/charlie-campbell/"}],"creator":"Charlie Campbell","articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt17f9311caeee40cf/6a209ed3b2ecf5d1deba1b8a/T100SPORTS-2026-Web-Sun-Yingsha.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collection/time100-sports/2026/sun-yingsha/","name":"Sun Yingsha"}}]}] ```