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2021.08.07 15:06 GMT+8

Quan Hongchan: China's teenage diving sensation at Tokyo 2020

Updated 2021.08.07 15:06 GMT+8
CGTN

Chinese teenager diver Quan Hongchan celebrates after winning the women's 10m platform event at the Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, August 7, 2021. /CFP

Quan Hongchan first made her name known when she was introduced as the youngest member of the 777-member Chinese delegation for the Tokyo Olympic Games. Now she is known to the world as a diving sensation who finished with a stunning 466.20 points and subsequently, a well-deserved gold medal in women's 10m platform at the Games.

Quan, who made her Olympics debut in Tokyo, collected full marks in three out of her five dives, and she led throughout the competition.

China's legendary champion diver Gao Min commented on social media, "I see a lot of myself in her. I can't stop my tears now."

"She is a genius, and genius will show themselves. Her success puts out the Olympic hopes of some other divers out there, but she is like a God-given gift to us."

Also trending online is a video clip of her coach thrillingly raising her up, as well as coaches from other teams coming up to this 14-year-old with praise and encouragement to her.

Chinese teenager diver Quan Hongchan is being raised up by her coach as they celebrate her winning the women's 10m platform event at the Tokyo Olympics in Tokyo, Japan, August 5, 2021. /CFP

When asked about what she would like to do after Tokyo, she answered, "Probably going to amusement parks," as any other teenagers would do.

But compared to most of her peers, Quan comes from a humble upbringing. As the middle child of five of the family in a rural village of Chenjiang in south China's Guangdong Province, she was picked by a diving coach in a sports school in the city at the age of seven. 

"She loved diving instantly. When we went fishing, she always wanted to play in the water whenever we arrive at one," said her brother Quan Jinhua.

With her mother in a worrying health condition, Quan has it on her mind since an early age that she was going to do her best for her mother. The family never asked the girl for anything, but the girl's sense of responsibility of taking care of the family got many netizens deeply touched.

(With input from Xinhua)

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