Retired table tennis star Ai Fukuhara announced Wednesday she is pregnant and expecting her second child next spring.
"I have been blessed with a second child," the 30-year-old Fukuhara said on her official blog, adding she wants to contribute to the future of children, as well as table tennis and other sports, through this experience.
Fukuhara's husband and Taiwanese table tennis player Chiang Hung-chieh also made a separate announcement on social media, saying their 1-year-old daughter Aira will be an elder sibling next spring. He also said Fukuhara is in her sixth month of pregnancy.
Fukuhara, nicknamed "Ai-chan," rose to fame as a child prodigy after turning professional at age 10. A four-time Olympian, she won a team silver medal at the 2012 London Games and a bronze in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
