China's women's foil squad secured all three individual spots and team quotas for the upcoming 2024 Paris Summer Olympics, led by Chen Qingyuan, who finished 11th in the individual women's foil at Tokyo 2020 and is now gearing up for her second appearance at the Games.

Chen, born and raised in southeast China's Fujian Province, took up fencing when she was in fourth grade. In 2018, Chen helped China win silver in the women's team foil event at the Asian Games in Jakarta. One year later, she bagged bronze at the 2019 Asian Fencing Championships in Japan.

The right-hander then claimed silver at the Fencing Grand Prix in Qatar. With that victory, Chen secured her spot at the pandemic-delayed Tokyo Olympics.

During the current Paris 2024 cycle, Chen struggled with her form and hit rock bottom in 2022 and 2023.

The 27-year-old suffered a first-round exit at the Shanghai Grand Prix in May last year. Consecutive defeats in international competitions shattered Chen's confidence, but she bounced back this year and claimed her first-ever World Cup gold medal in January.

"I was so shocked at that time. I could not believe it. I thought about winning a world title, and I thought that maybe one day I would become a world champion, but I did not know when it might happen, so that was definitely a surprise for me, and it greatly boosted my confidence," Chen said.

Now gearing up for her second trip to the Olympics, Chen hopes she can top the podium in Paris.

"I think the Olympic stage is almost like a sacred place for me, and even though I exited early in my last Olympic appearance, I spent a lot of time watching other athletes. All of them gave their best performances. They were all in, but there was only one winner, and I hope I will be the winner this time in Paris," Chen concluded.