Quan Hongchan 全红婵 and her partner Wang Weiying 王伟莹 finished fifth in the women’s synchronized 10-meter platform at the 15th National Games on November 6, 2025, with a total score of 311.76 points. After the competition, Quan offered a series of candid and thoughtful reflections that highlighted both her vulnerability and her composure.
She revealed that she had competed while dealing with lingering injuries to her tibia and ankle. The pain had been severe throughout training. “It hurt terribly every day,” she said, and she relied heavily on kinesiology tape for support. During the final, the pain worsened to the point that “after too many dives, even walking up the stairs was painful.” Despite this, she expressed pride in simply completing the event, saying, “Being able to finish the whole competition, I think that’s pretty great.”
Quan also explained that her partnership with Wang was still new. They had been paired for less than a month and had limited time to work together. Both divers were fatigued, and Wang had been affected by a bout of diarrhea before the event. Given these conditions, Quan felt that the fifth-place result was reasonable: “With how we performed today, I think it’s okay.”
She took responsibility for not making the podium, saying, “Maybe I didn’t work hard enough. I let my teammate down.” After their final dive, she immediately tried to comfort Wang, telling her it was okay, while privately blaming herself for not supporting her partner better.
Throughout the interviews, Quan maintained a remarkably positive outlook. She repeated that she was “happy whether winning or losing” and that “doing your best without getting hurt is what matters.” When fans in the stands shouted, “Just stay healthy and happy,” she became visibly emotional, covering her mouth as she held back tears. “I’m just happy that you all came to see me,” she told them.
Their five dive scores were 51.00, 48.60, 72.00, 71.04, and 69.12 points, with synchronization issues on the second dive and a clear error in coordination on the last. The gold medal went to Chen Yuxi 陈芋汐 and Zhang Minjie 掌敏洁, who scored 350.22 points. The top three teams were separated by only about six points.
Public and media responses were broadly supportive. Many praised Quan’s perseverance, with Xinhua News writing that “the fifth-place finish carries the weight of fierce determination.” Fans at the venue encouraged her by saying that finishing safely was already a victory. Her mother admitted it hurt to see her daughter covered in muscle tape but stressed that the family does not pressure her to win: “Just do your best.” The family also supports her future choices, whether she continues diving or focuses on her studies. Chen Yuxi publicly wished Quan a quick recovery and said she hoped they could continue working together in the future.
Quan Hongchan concludes this National Games with a gold medal from the women’s team platform event and will now prioritize recovery and weight management as she prepares for her return to peak form.
Online comments showed support for Quan Hongchan:
“You’ve really grown up, not just physically but mentally too. Take good care of your injuries. I saw you massaging your ankle during warm-up; it must hurt a lot.”
“You worked so hard. Take your time and heal well, we’ll wait for you.”
“You worked hard. You were amazing.”
“Just focus on healing. Don’t worry too much about anything else.”
“You two had less than a month together, but you were both wonderful.”
“It hasn’t been easy for you. You were really great.”
“As long as you performed to your own satisfaction, that’s enough. Now take good care of your injuries.”
“Thank you for your hard work.”
