Tokyo : The concerns of most 14-year-old’s typically stretch from school to social encounters. Not for Quan Hongchan though.
The 14-year-old diving sensation — China’s youngest athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics — won a stunning gold medal in the women’s 10 meter platform diving on Thursday. Afterwards, she admitted the nerves of the occasion affected her slightly.
“I was a little nervous, but not very, just a little bit,” she told reporters.
She produced two perfect-10 dives in a dominant display. Quan becomes the second-youngest woman ever to win gold in the event after her compatriot Fu Mingxia took the title at the 1992 Barcelona Games at the age of just 13.
Although when asked about what she thinks when people calls her a “diving prodigy,” Quan said she didn’t agree with that label.
“I don’t think I’m a prodigy. I’m not very bright. I don’t do well in my studies. You ask me all these questions and there’s only a blank in my mind.”
She saw off compatriot Chen Yuxi to finish first and the win extends China’s dominance in women’s diving.
The Asian nation has now claimed gold in all women’s diving events at four successive Games — Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.
The last time a non-Chinese woman won an Olympic diving event was when Australia’s Chantelle Newbery secured women’s 10 meter platform gold at the 2004 Games in Athens.
And although she’s not getting ahead of herself about competing at Paris 2024, Quan already has an idea about how she wants to celebrate.
CNN
