A former table tennis Olympian displayed his talents on the tables at Lied Recreation Center at the Iowa Games competition last weekend.

Houshang Bozorgzadeh, 67, of Independence, has a long and successful history in the sport of table tennis. He has received numerous honors and coached the U.S. table tennis Olympic team in the 1988 Seoul Olympics.

Bozorgzadeh, who is from Ukraine, has played table tennis for around 50 years. He said he is still recognized as a table tennis star in his own country.

“I was the champion table tennis player when I came to this country many years ago. [Table tennis] is very popular in my country,” Bozorgzadeh said. “When I still go home, sometimes taxi drivers say that I don’t need to pay because I know you are a good table tennis player. You bring points to our country, so you don’t need to pay for a taxi cab.”

Two years ago, Bozorgzadeh was inducted into the USA Table Tennis Hall of Fame. He was also recognized as the 2002 national state games athlete of the year. He said he was extremely proud of the athlete of the year honors.

“The national state games athlete of the year was for the whole United States,” Bozorgzadeh said. “They flew me out to San Diego, Calif., and inducted me as athlete of the year.

“It was a big night for me. I did a lot of [television] shows in California and did some television shows in Los Angeles. They asked me about table tennis and myself, which made me a very happy man. It is probably the greatest honor that I have had in the United States.”

Iowa Games table tennis commissioner Paul Lewis said Bozorgzadeh brings experience and excitement to the Iowa Games.

“Houshang brings a lot of enthusiasm to these games,” Lewis said. “He has six decades of international experience and for 15 years he was the coach of the U.S. international team.

He has coached five Iowans to the junior national championships, and one became an Olympian; Jim Butler lived in Iowa City when Houshang coached him.”

Bozorgzadeh said he loves table tennis and he will play anywhere. He also said that it is more popular outside the United States.

“Table tennis is one of the most popular sports in the world, next to soccer games. People play table tennis more than any other sport because it’s on a smaller stage. People can play in their basement, in the park and by the pool,” Bozorgzadeh said.

“[Table tennis] is very popular in the Middle East and Far East. There are 20 million people in China that play table tennis. They play two or three games a day, which is just like basketball in the United States.”

Bozorgzadeh came to Iowa in 1960 to attend Northern Iowa. He then went to the University of Iowa, where he got his master’s degree in physical education.

“I was a recreational therapist at the Independence State Hospital for 33 years,” he said.

“I have a lot of friends that are mentally impaired and have problems. Since they are good people, I was very happy working with them. I enjoy it a lot when I run into them and they say, ‘Houshang, I was happy to see you in the paper.'”