Quan Hongchan wins gold at Fina Diving World Cup, Chinese fans marvel as ‘little girl grows up’
- The 16-year-old blows away competition with partner Chen Yuxi in synchronised 10m platform final in Xian on Friday
- It was a first major international medal for Quan since her stunning introduction aged 14 at the Tokyo Olympics
Chinese netizens marvelled at the performance of Quan Hongchan, who on Friday won gold at the Fina Diving World Cup in Xian – nearly two years on from wowing the world at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 16-year-old Quan and her partner Chen Yuxi won the women’s synchronised 10-metre platform event, blowing away the competition with a total score of 373.20 for their five jumps.
Great Britain were a distant second, more than 60 points back, followed by Germany, who took bronze at the Xian Aoti Aquatic Center.
The victory got China’s “dream team” off to the perfect start, where they are looking for a clean sweep on home soil at the first Diving World Cup event of the new season.
Restricted by China’s “zero Covid” policy in 2022, it was a first major international medal for Quan since her stunning introduction at the Games in 2021, where she won the individual 10-metre competition and broke the Olympic record with three perfect 10s in a combined score of 466.20.
She became a viral sensation, with fans taking to the down-to-earth attitude of the youngest member of what was a record Chinese contingent for an overseas Games.
