Doha, Qatar, February 5, 2024: China’s Olympic and Asian Games champion, Quan Hongchan, denied her teammate Chen Yuxi a fourth straight women’s 10m platform diving title at the Hamad Aquatic Centre on Monday, February 5.
Quan, 16, was a clear winner on the night with a total of 436.25 points from her five dives to collect her first individual world championship gold. She led from the first dive and was never seriously challenged, even by Chen.
Chen, 18, was the last of the 12 finalists to take to the platform, and could not catch her precocious teammate. Chen, world champion in 2019, 2022 and 2023, had to settle for silver with a total score of 427.80.
Great Britain’s Andrea Spendolini Sirieix came in third with 377.10 with a series of impressive dives.
The Chinese pair were greeted with loud cheers and even screams by a large Chinese fan base inside the venue, and they did not let them down with a 1-2 finish.
Quan, who now has an Olympic Games gold medal from Tokyo at the age of 14, Hangzhou Asian Games gold and now world championship gold, said she still had plenty of energy and ambition to continue.
"I just want to continue making progress. I don’t want to give myself any pressure. I am still young and want to keep going,” she said.
Despite scoring four perfect 10s from the seven judges for her fourth dive, earning her 97.35 points, Quan admitted in general she was below her usual form.
Asked about the large, heavy medal awarded to her, Quan replied: “I think the medal is really beautiful to hold in my hand and the mascot is really cute.”
*DPR Korea was one of three countries, along with Italy and the Netherlands, that secured a quota place for Paris 2024 in the semifinals.
