Diving prodigy Quan Hongchan of China is an Olympic gold medallist and now an Asian Games gold medallist, but, as Chinese netizens love to point out, she is also still an adorable kid.
It wasn’t her gold medal performance for the women’s synchronised 10m platform that enamoured the audience nor was it her second gold from the individual women’s 10m platform – those victories were almost a given.
Rather, she won over hearts with her quirky anecdotes, namely involving her many, many turtle toys.
Several times during her stint in Hangzhou, the Olympian was photographed carrying turtle stuffed animals, which attracted the attention of fans. Several photographs surfaced of fans showing off their Quan-inspired turtle toys, with bags and accessories to rival the teenager’s.
Following Quan’s gold-medal performance on Tuesday, a video went viral showing a spectator throwing a turtle toy to Quan, who graciously re-gifted it to her coach Chen Ruolin.
But, even after winning gold, netizens continued the fanfare for the teen even as she left the city via Hangzhou International Airport.
Wearing her backpack adorned with the signature turtles, Quan was easily spotted among the busy airport crowd, and Chinese sports fans could not get enough.
Videos went viral on social media platform Weibo showing the 16-year-old wearing her decked-out bag and pushing a suitcase more than half her size through the airport.
“The dolls on her schoolbag were really easy to recognise,” a Weibo user wrote. “[Looking] forward to seeing you again at the Paris Olympics!”
“How cute is Quan Hongchan?” another wrote. “Showing off the dolls to the world.”
Others called her “adorable”, while one comment admired the “zoo hanging off her backpack”.
While Quan is a “cute” kid to most, she is also one of the most accomplished divers worldwide, having picked up the sport at the ripe age of seven in Zhanjiang, China, after being scouted by coach and former diver Chen Huaming.
“One day, I was playing hopscotch with my friends during the break at school, when Chen Huaming … gave his thumbs up to my jumping ability,” Quan said.
“He said that I was tiny, swift but able to jump higher and further than others.”
After talking with Quan’s parents, Chen began to teach Quan diving at Zhanjiang City Sports School.
“I had never tried any other sport before but I enjoyed playing with water,” the teen said. “It was a good start for me that I could jump from the platform into water ahead of other kids without hesitation.”
Since the start of her training, Quan has grown to become a global sensation, winning gold in her very first Olympic appearance at the 2020 Tokyo Games at the age of 14, and placing second in the World Championships for the women’s 10m platform in 2022 and 2023.
Even with so many accolades nine years after taking her first dive, it feels as if the teen star is still only just getting started in her career.