I’m Really Worried about Quan Hongchan!
Translation of article published on August 7th 2024 on the College Daily 北美留学生观察, written by Duo Luoluo 多罗罗
Context: the article explores the sporting rivalry and friendship between divers Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi in the wake of their recent Olympic triumphs, placing it in the context of the pair’s contrasting social backgrounds.
Translated using ChatGPT (prompt: ‘Create a readable translation that sounds natural to native speakers while faithfully rendering the original Chinese’) that was subsequently lightly polished for clarity. Link to the original article here:
Quan Hongchan triumphs!
Not long ago, Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi teamed up to win the women’s synchronized 10-meter platform diving championship. Last night, they faced off against each other in the individual event.
On her first dive, Quan Hongchan delivered a flawless performance, once again earning perfect tens and securing a total score of 90, placing her in first place.
By the third dive, Chen Yuxi was also performing exceptionally well, scoring 89.1 points and narrowing the gap to just 1.6 points.
After five dives, Quan Hongchan emerged as the champion, achieving her goal of “conquering Paris with ease.” Chen Yuxi, despite a strong performance, fell just 4.9 points short and had to settle for silver. The two of them were so far ahead that they led the third-place finisher by about 50 points.
After the competition, Quan Hongchan tearfully embraced her coach, Chen Ruolin. Overcoming the challenges of her growth spurt and breaking the curse of the 207C dive, this victory was anything but easy. In that moment, the immense pressure she had been carrying was finally released:
“I’d rather be trending for an hour because I won than trending all day because I lost.”
When the camera panned to Chen Yuxi, she couldn’t hide her disappointment, looking like a lost little child. But when Quan Hongchan ran over to her, she still managed to force a smile, opened her arms early, and congratulated her friend.
During her interview, Chen Yuxi couldn’t hold back any longer. She admitted that while she wasn’t strong enough, she had grown a lot more mature.
How could she not feel regret? She was just one Olympic individual gold medal away from a Grand Slam, yet she ended up with two silver medals. The postponement of the Tokyo Olympics by a year disrupted many athletes’ rhythms. Quan Hongchan burst onto the scene just in time to meet the minimum age requirement for the competition, setting a formidable rival in Chen Yuxi’s path.
1
There’s no better phrase to describe Quan Hongchan than “burst onto the scene.”
Eight months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Quan Hongchan made a stunning debut at the trials, earning a spot on the national team and qualifying for the Olympics. She made an immediate impression at the Games, scoring perfect tens on three out of five dives and setting a new Olympic record with an astonishing 466.20 points, winning the gold medal. At that time, she was just a little-known 14-year-old.
Meanwhile, Chen Yuxi, who was originally favored to win, took the silver. People were amazed by Quan Hongchan’s flawless, graceful dives, saying:
“Even my dumplings make a bigger splash.”
“She didn’t just make a splash; she made waves around the world.”
Praise poured in from all sides, and she dominated trending topics online. As her family’s financial situation came to light, the attention reached new heights. The story of a naturally gifted young girl working hard to win prize money to pay for her mother’s medical treatment captivated everyone—a classic tale of a talented underdog stunning the world.
Quan Hongchan, a girl from a humble background, with a straightforward and playful personality, quickly won countless fans, but she also attracted over-zealous admirers and detractors.
Quan Hongchan’s family of nine made a living as fruit farmers. After she became famous, every word and action of her family was scrutinized by countless eyes. A single remark from her father about how many cigarettes he had smoked led some netizens to label him as a “father who only knows how to smoke, make babies, and leech off his daughter.” Some even sneered that he wouldn’t live past 45.
But smoking was just this hardworking father’s way of coping with the immense stress of life.
After the Tokyo Olympics, Quan Hongchan faced the challenges of puberty, and the 207C dive became her nightmare. At the 2022 Budapest World Championships, the 2023 World Cup in Xi’an, the 2023 Berlin World Cup, and the 2024 World Cup in Xi’an, Quan Hongchan lost to Chen Yuxi because of mistakes on the 207C.
During the entire Paris Olympic cycle, the two faced each other 14 times, with Chen Yuxi winning 10 of those encounters.
People love to idolize, but they also love to see idols fall. Many began to doubt Quan Hongchan, blaming her repeated losses on arrogance. Some even spread rumors that her poor performance had gotten her demoted back to the provincial team, forcing her coach, Chen Ruolin, to personally debunk the lies.
In reality, the relationship between Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi is much deeper than anyone imagined. In a previous interview, a reporter asked them which event was more stressful, the individual or synchronized.
Quan Hongchan said: “The individual is more stressful because I don’t have Chen Yuxi by my side.”
Chen Yuxi said: “The synchronized is more stressful because there’s only one team, but in the individual, I have Quan Hongchan to fall back on.”
Their answers revealed the trust and reliance they have on each other. One comes from a humble background, the other from a middle-class family. Yet through diving, their fates have intertwined. They are each other’s greatest competitors and best friends, but some people choose to misinterpret this healthy rivalry, misportraying it as a grudge match.
2
Some extreme fans believe that a genius should never lose. So, conspiracy theories and accusations of biased judging against Quan Hongchan began to emerge, with Chen Yuxi becoming the target of these attacks.
At the 2023 Diving World Cup in Montreal, a silent video clip showed a woman in black with short hair with a displeased expression speaking to Quan Hongchan. After hearing what she said, Quan Hongchan’s face clouded over.
Although the video had no sound, many interpreted it as “Chen Yuxi yelling at Quan Hongchan.” The rumors and online abuse escalated, forcing Chen Yuxi to clear her social media, leaving only a photo of her and Zhang Jiaqi winning the synchronized diving gold at the Tokyo Olympics.
At the 2024 World Cup in Montreal, Chen Yuxi defeated Quan Hongchan to win the gold. During an interview, Chen Yuxi answered the reporter’s questions fluently in English, but this too was twisted, with some accusing her of “showing off” and “belittling Quan Hongchan for being uneducated.”
Unlike Quan Hongchan, who comes from a humble background, Chen Yuxi was born into a Shanghainese family with a long-standing gymnastic pedigree. Her grandfather, Chen Xinxi, was a well-known gymnast in the city, and both of her parents were professional gymnasts. Due to her weak constitution and frequent illnesses, her family encouraged her to practice gymnastics to build her strength.
At the age of six, Chen Yuxi was selected by a coach to switch to diving, where she quickly displayed her talent. Because of her frail health, there was a period when she would train for a week and then have to rest for two or three weeks. To keep up, Chen Yuxi always focused intently during training, ensuring she completed everything at a high standard.
Despite her rigorous training, Chen Yuxi didn’t neglect her studies. She worked hard on her English, actively participated in school activities, and served as a class president.
In 2018, at just 13 years old, Chen Yuxi participated in her first national competition and won two titles, earning her a place on the national diving team the following year. Quan Hongchan’s rise also motivated Chen Yuxi to push herself even further. At the 2023 World Championships, Chen Yuxi raised her performance ceiling to 457.85 points.
Losing this Olympic gold medal was undoubtedly painful, but she was genuinely happy for Quan Hongchan. Watching her on camera, smiling while talking about her back injury and regrets, was heartbreaking. The competition is always a mix of sweat and tears, but perhaps, as she said, she has matured a lot and learned to comfort herself.
In the synchronized events, they work in perfect harmony, moving as one; in the individual events, they push each other, advancing together, and off the stage, they share a close bond. Two pure athletes, two close friends, shouldn’t have to endure the crushing weight of online abuse.
Last night, after Quan Hongchan’s victory, her brother’s livestream promoting their farm products quickly became a trending topic. In reality, her brother’s fruit and vegetable store has been around for three years, during which he has actively helped local farmers without ever deliberately mentioning his sister Quan Hongchan.
Despite his repeated statements that he wouldn’t ride on his sister’s fame, that he doesn’t know how much prize money she has earned, nor would he ask, and that he prefers to be self-reliant, as long as Quan Hongchan is in the spotlight, there will always be people questioning his motives. The online harassment never seems to leave them alone.
Quan Hongchan and Chen Yuxi’s futures are just beginning. Let’s all follow them with respect and not over-exploit their potential. There are so many exciting experiences they’ve yet to explore. How they move forward is a choice that’s entirely up to them.
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