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BEIJING - One of China's greatest athletes has taken a big stride in her burgeoning political career by taking on a senior role in one of the ruling Communist Party's powerful organs, state media reported Friday.
Table tennis legend Deng Yaping, a four-time Olympic gold medallist, has been appointed deputy secretary of Beijing's arm of the Chinese Communist Youth League, according to the Xinhua news agency.
President Hu Jintao headed the league in the 1980s and it remains one of his power bases. The league serves as the youth wing for the Communist Party.
Deng, 36, has retained a high profile in China after retiring in 1997 at the age of just 24.
She was a member of the organising committee for the Beijing Olympics, and was one of the sporting celebrities who repeatedly visited survivors of last year's devastating earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan province.
Deng also served as a member of an advisory body to China's parliament.
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