Teenage Olympic Champions Excel at Diving World Cup 2022 in Berlin

The FINA Diving World Cup 2022 in Berlin, Germany, wrapped up on October 23, where Chinese teen diving sensations Chen Yuxi and Quan Hongchan won gold and silver, respectively, in the women’s 10-meter platform competition.

The World Cup 2022 was held from October 20 to 23. With a roster of nine athletes, who are all world champions, Team China collected eight golds and four silver medals in the eight events they participated in.

Among others, viewers were particularly impressed by the strong performance of 15-year-old diver Quan, who won gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

On the opening day of the World Cup, Quan led the pack from the first dive and finished the women’s 10-meter platform preliminary with 418.50 points, slightly ahead of Chen and more than 100 points ahead of third-ranked Malaysian diver Pandelela Pamg. Her powerful performance secured her a spot in the finals.

Of particular note: Quan did a near-perfect job of performing dive 207C, which features three and a half reverse somersaults in the tuck position, scoring 92.40 out of 99, with one judge even giving her a perfect 10.

This successful dive was particularly meaningful for Quan, as she failed to execute it at the FINA World Championships in Budapest, Hungary, four months ago.

As one of the three major international diving events, alongside the Summer Olympics and FINA World Championships, FINA Diving World Cup is a keenly anticipated event for fans of the sport. Quan has won gold in the former two tournaments, and her debut at the World Cup undoubtedly generated much attention from diving lovers.

Even though she failed to secure a golden finish, Chinese netizens celebrated Quan’s silver medal on the Chinese social media platform Weibo. Several hashtags highlighting her overall performance have garnered millions of views.

“Quan did such a brilliant job! She must have been through a tough time dealing with growth and body shape change, but she keeps moving forward. Her perfect 207C is the highlight today. No matter the final results, we will always love and support her,” a Weibo user commented following the women’s 10-meter platform preliminary round.

“I thought Quan might be sad and disappointed after not winning the championship, but instead, she happily cheered for Chen and impressed everyone in the stadium,” wrote another netizen following her finals appearance. “I am proud of her!”

Before securing gold at the World Cup 2022, decorated 17-year-old diver Chen most recently won gold and silver medals at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Cover image via VCG