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Perfectionist Quan wins third Olympic diving gold at age 17 / Photo: © AFP
Perfectionist Quan wins third Olympic diving gold at age 17
The 17-year-old diving prodigy Quan Hongchan on Tuesday won her second gold at the Paris Olympics and third of her young career to maintain China's unblemished record in the sport in the French capital.
Quan's first dive was given perfect scores of 10 across the board on the way to sealing a China one-two in the women's 10m platform.
An emotional Quan won with a total of 425.60 points, keeping team-mate Chen Yuxi at bay for silver with 420.70. North Korea's Kim Mi Rae took bronze on 372.10, and promptly also burst into tears.
Quan also won the 10m platform at the Tokyo Olympics, when she was just 14, and then took gold in the women's synchronised 10m platform in Paris with Chen.
"I spent three years that were very difficult. I overcame a lot of things," Quan said afterwards, explaining her tears in victory.
"If I list all of them, we will never finish. I'm very happy to have this gold."
The teenager gave a glimpse of the pursuit for perfection which propelled her to yet more gold.
Quan rated her winning performance as "50 out of 100, except for the first dive".
"The rest of the dives, I did not achieve what I wanted."
Quan has come a long way to become one of China's elite Olympians and hugely popular back home.
She was one of five children born into a poor rural family. Her father was an orange farmer and her mother worked in a factory until a road accident left her in poor health.
Quan has previously said that she was motivated to win to pay for her mother's hospital bills.
When she won gold at the pandemic-delayed Games in Tokyo three years ago, it was the first time Quan had competed outside China.
Quan's journey to diving perfection began when she was spotted playing hopscotch with some friends at school and a former diver and coach noticed her jumping ability. She started diving aged seven.
The triple Olympic gold medallist has earned legions of fans in China as much for her bubbly personality as her sporting prowess.
A mischievous smile never far from her face, she was asked to describe her overriding feeling after her latest triumph.
"Hungry," she replied. "Let's get something to eat."
China are the unrivalled superpower in diving and have won all five golds in the sport so far in the French capital.
Three more golds are up for grabs.
China's divers won all but one of the eight titles in Tokyo, Britain took the other.
N. Gonçalves--JDB
