Dimitrij Ovtcharov

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Ovtcharov won the silver medal as part of the German men's team, together with Timo Boll and Christian Süß. He used a special technique in his serves, which was later picked by Time magazine as one of the top 50 innovations of 2008. On 22 September 2010, Ovtcharov had been suspended by the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) due to a positive A-sample test for Clenbuterol that may be used as a performance-enhancing substance. Ovtcharov himself denied the doping accusation and requested a B-sample analysis which still tested positive. After hearings and further investigations, the hair sample voluntarily offered by Ovtcharov showed no evidence of clenbuterol and its abuse. DTTB later unanimously decided to cancel the suspension on 15 October 2010. The decision was endorsed by ITTF. At the 2012 Summer Olympics, Ovtcharov won bronze medals in singles and team events. In June 2015, he won a gold medal at the inaugural European Games. At the 2016 Summer Olympics, he was defeated by Vladimir Samsonov in the singles quarter-final. He then won a team bronze medal. As a result of his performance in Doha, Ovtcharov rejoined the top ten in the world rankings. In June, Ovtcharov played in the European Table Tennis Championships, reaching the finals before losing to his German national teammate Timo Boll. In July, two weeks before the Tokyo Olympics Ovtcharov withdrew from an internal German Olympic Scrimmage due to a leg injury. Ovtcharov won bronze at the Tokyo Olympics in the men's singles event. Ovtcharov reached the finals of the men's team event, earning his record sixth Olympic medal. ==Equipment==