Diving | Champion + Finishes No. 5, Wrapping Up National Games Journey—Quan Hongchan Responds to Future Diving Plans: "We'll See."

In the women's 10m platform synchronized diving final at the 15th National Games, Chen Yuxi/Zhang Minjie maintained a steady lead throughout the competition to clinch the gold medal. Li Ruixi/Lu Wei claimed the silver, while Liu Junxi/Meng Zerui secured the bronze. Notably, the highly anticipated duo of Quan Hongchan and Wang Weiying, competing together for the first time, finished fifth. As Quan Hongchan did not participate in the women's individual 10m platform event, her journey at this year's National Games has come to an end—leaving her with one gold medal (in the women's team event) and a fifth-place finish in the women's 10m platform synchronized event.

At this year's National Games, Quan Hongchan returned to official competition for the first time in five months. On her comeback journey, she competed in both the women’s team event and the women’s 10m platform synchronized event. First up was the women’s team competition, where the Guangdong squad—led by Olympic champions Chen Yiwen and Quan Hongchan—dominated all four events, ultimately clinching the gold medal with a total score of 2,369.8 points. Later, Quan Hongchan, partnering with Wang Weiying, edged out the formidable duo of Chen Yuxi and Zhang Minjie by just 0.9 points in the thrilling women’s 10m platform synchronized final.

However, in the women's 10m platform synchronized event, Chen Yuxi/Zhang Minjie dominated from the preliminary round, continuing their strong performance in the final—each of their dives earned the highest score of the entire field, ultimately securing them the gold medal. Meanwhile, Quan Hongchan/Wang Weiying finished third in the preliminaries but experienced some inconsistency during their second and fifth dives in the final, dropping to fifth place overall.

After the competition, Quan Hongchan revealed in a mixed-zone interview that her injury still affected her performance to some extent, preventing her from helping her teammate stand on the podium. "My foot isn’t exactly in excruciating pain," she said, "but after doing so many jumps—especially those explosive, high-difficulty moves—I even start feeling discomfort when climbing stairs. Ultimately, because of my own limitations, I wasn’t able to support her in reaching the top step. Her real wish was for us both to share the podium together, but I guess I just didn’t put in enough effort."

However, she also noted that her performance in the women's 10m platform doubles event was actually pretty good. "Jumping at home wasn’t much different from here—so I think I did pretty well myself. It’s all about giving it your best shot. I managed to stay fully focused throughout the entire competition, pushing through until the very end. My partner just finished her routine too, and honestly, she looked just as exhausted as I did. Plus, we haven’t even practiced together that many times back home, so considering everything, I’d say we did pretty well overall."

Returning to the competition, Quan Hongchan said: "Although my dive didn’t go as well as I’d hoped, I still enjoyed it and felt pretty happy. Unlike before, when not making it onto the podium or falling short of my personal goals would leave me upset, today, even though I didn’t perform perfectly and missed out on the podium, I’m still glad—I wasn’t overly disappointed."

When asked if we’ll see Quan Hongchan at the diving pool again, she paused briefly before offering an open-ended reply: "We'll have to wait and see—I think so, but right now, I really don’t know."

Previously, speaking to the camera, Quan Hongchan openly shared her thoughts: "I feel like I can't quite match my former self anymore. Even though my jumps aren’t as good as they used to be, I’m still incredibly happy. Since I stopped competing, every single day has been filled with joy for me." When asked if she realizes that if she stops training, fewer people might still admire her, Quan Hongchan admitted she’s aware of this possibility—but she’s perfectly okay with it. She also revealed that she hasn’t yet fully mapped out her future plans.