In addition to her three golds medals from Athens 2004, Beijing 2008 and London 2012, the 24-year-old has already enjoyed an illustrious career competing in four Paralympic Games as well as two Olympics.

Having became the youngest ever Paralympian when she participated in Sydney 2000 at the age of just 11, Partyka should be perfectly placed in her new ITTF role where she will be running Para-table tennis training camps, while mentoring young athletes.

"Being an ambassador of ITTF Dream Building is a big honour for me," she said.

"That's a great initiative and I am sure that together we can contribute a lot to develop table tennis all over the world.

"Hope that my past and future achievements will encourage all kids to reach their own goals in sport and also in their life."

Natalia Partyka has three Paralympic gold medals to her name


ITTF President Adham Sharara was equally pleased and feels "very privileged to have someone with Natalia's unmatched achievements come on board".

"I am sure that her star qualities will complement the already successful Dream Building programmes and help inspire more children with a physical disability to take up table tennis to enrich their lives," he said.

The ITTF Dream Building initiative supports the sport's development programme, as well as its Para table tennis and junior table tennis schemes, using "the power of table tennis to change and enrich thousands lives of across the globe".

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