It’s not every day one gets a call from the International Ta

• Author: Fuad Esack fuad.esack@inl.co.za
• Published date: 07 July 2021
• Date: 07 July 2021

The pioneering table tennis umpire is set to become the first African female table tennis referee to call the shots at the highest level when the Olympic Games kicks off in Tokyo, Japan, later this month.

Shawn Mendes’ catchy tune “Lost in Japan” comes to mind when chatting to Lentz about catching a flight to the land of the Rising Sun. Just like the song, she probably can't get it off her mind. It’s the one thing that trumps graduating with a Master’s degree last week.

The highly-rated Lentz, the eldest of three siblings, all of whom are very involved with the sport, is a veteran in umpiring circles. The Tokyo Games will be her fourth tour of Olympic duty.

It’s the sort of thing one does not get used to, she says, and one that calls for celebration, albeit a virtual one in line with the times we are living in.

“I was told that an umpire only gets to attend an Olympics once because of the many umpires around the world that need to get the opportunity to officiate at such a prestigious event. So never in a million years would I have ever imagined attending my fourth Olympics,” she said.

The first Olympics she attended as a rookie was in 2008, at the Beijing Paralympics in China.

In 2006, she qualified as an international umpire and was selected for the First Youth Olympics in 2010, in Singapore as a novice umpire.

“The ultimate dream selection was being selected to travel to London for the 2012 Olympics, where I was honoured to be selected to umpire the women’s singles semi-final match,” she said.

“I thought that was my last opportunity to attend the Olympics. As an umpire I had reached the pinnacle of my umpiring career.” The next step was to pursue a career as a referee. In 2016, South African Table Tennis Board (SATTB) nominated her to attend the national referees’ course in Sudan and the international referees course, in Egypt 2017, where she became the first African female table tennis referee.

“The biggest honour is to be selected as one of the referees at the Olympics.

“In 2019, I was selected as Deputy Referee for Table Tennis at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Japan. I thought my Olympic days were over. This to date is my biggest personal achievement in sport and the highest honour for African women, Bonteheuwel; South African Table Tennis and the continent of Africa. I’ll be the first female to represent Africa as a referee at the Olympics in table tennis since the institution of Olympics is 1896 in Athens.”

Regarding her duties at the Games, Lentz...