Quan Hongchan wins gold at National Games

Chinese Olympic gold medalist Quan Hongchan led the Guangdong women's diving team to a championship win at the National Games on Sunday night.

It was Quan's first return to the pool after having been absent from domestic and international competitions for 183 days due to injuries.

The Olympian and social media influencer earned waves of cheers and screams from the spectators on-site when she demonstrated her special water splash disappearance technique in the swimming pool.

Quan, who was paired with Wang Weiying, came in first in women's synchronized 10m platform, beating her former teammate Chen Yuxi, who was paired with Zhang Minjie, representing Shanghai.

The teenage diving prodigy will also compete the women's synchronized 10m platform, but she will be absent from women's 10m platform individual to avoid worsening her injures.

Quan, the county's youngest athlete to have won three Olympic gold medals, became a freshman of Guangzhou-based Jinan University in September.

She won the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 when she made her major international competition debut at the age of 14.

Quan then defended her title in Paris Olympics in 2024 and won women's synchronized 10m platform alongside Chen Yuxi.

The National Games were jointly held by Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macao.