Background
His father Mykhailo (himself national level table tennis player, and Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics National champion in 1982) has moved his family to Germany shortly after Dimitrij was born.
His father Mykhailo (himself national level table tennis player, and Union of the Soviet Socialist Republics National champion in 1982) has moved his family to Germany shortly after Dimitrij was born.
As of March 2016, he is ranked no.4 in the world by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF). He used a special technique in his serves, which was later picked by TIME as one of the top 50 innovations of 2008. On September 22, 2010 Ovtcharov had been suspended by the German Table Tennis Federation (DTTB) due to a positive A-sample test for Clenbuterol that may be used as performance-enhancing substance.
Ovtcharov himself denied the doping accusation and requested a B-sample analysis which still tested positive.
After hearings and further investigations, the hair sample voluntarily offered by Ovtcharov showed no evidence of clenbuterol and its abuse. DTTB later unanimously decided to abolish the suspension on October 15, 2010.
The decision was endorsed by ITTF. In June 2015, he competed in the inaugural European Games, for Germany in table tennis, more specifically, Men"s singles. He earned a gold medal.
Dimitrij Ovtcharov is right-handed and uses the shakehand grip.
He is also a DONIC sponsored athlete. His blade is a Donic Ovtcharov Senso V1 with Butterfly Tenergy 05 Black rubber on forehand and Butterfly Tenergy 05 Red on backhand. records World Cup: 3rd (2009, 2011).