19yo Chinese diver Quan Hongchan, after Paris Olympics, took a temporary break from national team due to injuries, weight issues and online abuse, then decided to keep diving with more care expected for athletes.
The diving world is in an uproar! Quan Hongchan announced she would be taking a temporary leave from the national team!
She submitted her request in March, and in July, she simply stated, “No need to try to keep me,” sending online sentiment into a frenzy.
Just after competing in the Paris Olympics, the 19-year-old girl reached her breaking point. Over the past few years, as her body developed, she gained 17 kilograms, completely disrupting the movement patterns she had spent years perfecting—forcing her to start from scratch on all her technical moves. An old injury to the ligaments in her right foot had not yet healed,her chronic lumbar spine wear and tear has repeatedly worsened due to the intensity of training. The pain she feels when taking off and entering the water is like fine needles repeatedly pricking her bones. Coupled with the relentless harassment from baseless, malicious online comments, she has confided to those close to her more than once that she honestly doesn’t want to dive anymore.
Fortunately, the Ersha Sports Training Center in Guangdong Province brought her back immediately so she could rest and recover. Her parents and head coach stayed by her side every day, urging her that nothing is more precious than her health. The online backlash gradually subsided, and many people began to reflect: When did we start treating athletes as nothing more than machines designed to win medals?
Everyone remembers that young girl at the Tokyo Olympics who landed a perfect jump that left the judges speechless. Ever since she joined the provincial team at age 12, her schedule has been packed with training and competitions.She’s won so many Olympic gold medals she can’t even count them, yet no one has seen the old injuries she’s carried for years. No one has seen how she’s been pinned to the stage under the spotlight since she was 12. Everyone just watches, waiting for her to win gold—no one has ever asked her if she’s in pain or if she’s tired.
Now that she’s slowly recovering, she’s tried her hand at other sports and rediscovered the joy she once felt on the competition floor. She’s finally come to realize that diving isn’t all hardship, so she’s gritted her teeth and decided to stick with it a little longer.
Going forward, we should give these athletes who are giving it their all a little more breathing room. We should think more about the children around us and the younger members of our families, rather than just focusing on how many medals they’ve won. Asking them if they’re tired or in pain is the most genuine and thoughtful gesture we can offer.
