Tokyo Olympics: 14-year-old diver Quan Hongchan is China’s youngest athlete
- Guangdong native is 28 years younger than oldest Chinese athlete and only one of 10-strong diving team not to be a world champion
- She won two of three qualifiers to burst onto scene as 13-year-old, dedicating the wins to her sick mother
The Zhanjiang, Guangdong native is seen as a medal hope for a country which has long dominated the sport.
State news agency Xinhua said China expects to win golds in diving, as well as table tennis, badminton, gymnastics, weightlifting and shooting.
IOC to investigate Mao badges worn by China gold medallists
Quan and 15-year-old Chen Yuxi will compete in the women’s 10-metre platform. Of the 10 divers picked for Tokyo, Quan is the only one who has not been a world champion.
The Olympics will be Quan’s debut international competition. She is 28 years younger than China’s oldest Tokyo Olympian, 52-year-old male equestrian rider Li Zhenqiang.
Quan took up diving in 2014, aged seven, and joined the Guangdong provincial team in 2018.
01:32
China’s Tokyo Olympics delegation will be nation’s biggest yet for an international sporting event
She seized her chance at the Olympic trials, no doubt benefiting from the year-long delay because of Covid-19.
It was reported at the time that Quan said her motivation for diving was to earn money to help her ill mother afford medical treatment.
05:32
Star rider paves way for China to make equestrian history at the Tokyo Olympics
The teenager won two of the three trials to secure her place in Zhou Jihong’s selection and will join Chen on the highest board in the competition. Chen is also making her Olympic debut, but she won the 2019 world championships.
China’s previous 10-metre divers have brought home golds. Ren Qian won the 10m platform at Rio 2016, with Chen Ruolin and Liu Huixia winning the 10m synchronised gold. At London 2012, Chen Ruolin won gold in the 10m platform and the synchronised with Wang Hao.
Quan is not the youngest Olympian at the Games. Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza will be 12 when she competes in Tokyo and is set to be the fifth youngest Olympic athlete of all time. Zaza was 11 when she qualified.
British skateboarder Sky Brown is set to be the country’s youngest Summer Olympian at 13 years and 11 days.
