Quan faces growing challenge head on

Taller, heavier and tougher — China's diving sensation Quan Hongchan is embracing new challenges brought by her growing pains, with the three-time Olympic champion poised to regain her competitive edge.

Dubbed as the master of the "splash-disappearing technique", Quan has twice redefined the benchmark of elite diving by winning back-to-back 10m platform golds at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024, leaving the judges stunned, commentators speechless and fans in awe with full-mark dives defining her early career.

As almost invincible as she appeared in the buildup to Paris, Quan has recently been dealt a tricky challenge from within — the rapid growth of her body frame — as the 18-year-old now measures at least 15 centimeters taller and 10 kilograms heavier than the diminutive prodigy who made some of the world's most difficult dives look effortless at her breakout Games debut in Tokyo.

The pull of gravity, now, feels much stronger, while the control of her spins, velocity and entry angle takes more training and greater strength to perfect, Quan admitted. Errors on dives she never messed up before now happen more frequently, she added.

"I've lost the feeling that I was used to when performing my dives," Quan confessed last week during the World Aquatics Diving World Cup Super Final in Beijing.

It's nothing new for teen talent in sports such as diving, gymnastics and artistic swimming. It's just the resilience to accept it, embrace it and beat it that sets consistent, true winners apart from the short-term bloomers.

Quan has braced herself for perhaps the biggest challenge of her career with a positive mindset.

"I've grown a lot physically. The way my body moves has changed, so, naturally, I cannot re-adapt as quickly as I need to," Quan said after finishing runner-up, beaten by her teammate Chen Yuxi, on the 10m platform at the Beijing super final.

"I am OK with that, and I think I've done a pretty good job today.

"I will work harder and add more fitness and strength training to my daily routine in order to help myself get used to my changing size. And, from there, I will try to perfect my dives again."

The silver finish at the Cup series' season finale at the Water Cube on Saturday was Quan's third consecutive loss to her close friend Chen, who is also her synchro event partner, since she outscored Chen by a small margin of merely 4.9 points from five rounds to retain her Olympic gold in Paris.

In fact, since her international debut in 2021, Quan had never finished runner-up three times in a row across all the meets she's ever contested in the Cup, world championships and Olympics.

The flaw that cost Quan a career-first Super Final gold in Beijing remained the same 207C routine — a dive involving three-and-a-half backward flips — that has forced her to misjudge her entry angle twice before at the earlier Mexico and Canada legs of Cup series.

Her coach Chen Ruolin, though, wasn't so concerned about Quan's ability to readjust.

"It's the natural process of puberty development that every teen athlete has to experience. She's so talented, so demanding on herself, and always works harder.

"I have full confidence in her ability to navigate through it," said the coach, herself a legendary five-time Olympic champion, who overcame the same challenge.

The healthy competition with her biggest rival and bestie outside the pool is helpful as well.

Whatever happens in an individual competition, Quan said she feels free to always seek advice and comfort from Chen Yuxi whenever she has a bad day.

And Chen Yuxi, who is two years Quan's senior, feels likewise.

"We are close to each other and talk about everything all the time. We always have each other's back and support each other, no matter what," said Chen Yuxi, who claimed three titles in a row on the Cup series to be named the "Best Female Diver of 2025".

Youth surge celebrated

Boasting a strong roster of multiple Olympic and world champions, the host contingent completed a clean sweep of all nine gold medals up for grabs at the Super Final in Beijing, with the rise of some next-generation divers stealing the show at the iconic Olympic arena.

In women's 3m springboard, 20-year-old Chen Jia continued her winning streak from two earlier Cup legs, and clinched the title in Beijing with 382.05 points, edging her Olympic champion teammate Chen Yiwen into second place. Maddison Keeney of Australia and Chiara Pellacani of Italy followed as the third and fourth finishers.

As a rookie to the Cup series, Chen Jia wrapped up her fruitful campaign with a huge confidence boost.

"I am really happy with the gold, but I still need to learn a lot from others. I should say I was a slow learner to the new format of head-to-head competition. I found my familiar pace only during the final," said the Sichuan province native, who was only selected into the national team at the end of last year.

Young men's 10m platform combo Zhu Zifeng and Cheng Zilong have emerged as surprising crowd pleasers, as they both scored perfect 10s in their attempts in the men's individual final.

Zhu earned five 10s from seven judges on his opening dive, and collected five 90-plus scores in six dives to win his first Super Final title and the Best Male Diver award.

"I didn't expect to win this gold medal, because I finished second at the two previous legs, but I also learned from that. I told myself to concentrate on my own techniques," said the 22-year-old Zhu, who also bagged the synchronized gold with partner Cheng.