Clareto Monsorate

Maria Fazekas has drawn a lot of attention in Tokyo. The Hungarian paddler has become famous after she dyed her hair with the Olympic symbol at the back of her two-block haircut.

The 45-year-old, who last participated in the 2004 Athens Games, said she decided to go with the five-ring haircut and Olympic-themed nail art to express her joy at returning to the Games.

“This is special, because this is a celebration for me to be here again,” Fazekas said as she flaunted her blonde hair.

Fazekas told Reuters that she got her hair done in Hungary prior to coming to Tokyo.

“When I went to the hairdresser and I said what I want, they didn’t say anything for a while. They just asked ‘What? What do you want?’,” Fazekas laughed.

“And this is famous now. This is good because many people will speak about Hungary, about table tennis and about my hair so it’s nice,” she said.

However, Fazekas’ journey in table tennis ended when she and her teammate Szandra Pergel lost to Japan 0-3, but she said that it was a good experience.

“It was a really good match because Japan are a strong team… It was a good thing for us to play against them,” she said.

“They are really good players. They are so fast.”