Olympics | Feature: No magic, just sweat and tears for Quan's title defending journey

Gold medalist Quan Hongchan of China celebrates during the awarding ceremony after the women's 10m platform final of diving at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Saint-Denis, France, Aug. 6, 2024. (Xinhua/Wang Peng)

PARIS, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- A tearful Quan Hongchan hugged her coach Chen Ruolin tightly after retaining her title in the women's 10m platform at Paris 2024 on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old Chinese diving sensation said that she was extremely happy for her victory, but added that the hardship of the past three years had made her especially emotional after the final.

"The past three years was so difficult for me," said a red-eyed Quan in the mixed zone. "I can hardly talk about it in detail here, because it will be endless."

Quan rose to fame at the Tokyo Olympic Games after winning the gold medal in the women's 10m platform. The then-14-year-old even delivered three perfect marks in her five dives.

People joked that the tiny girl had some form of magic to make the water splash disappear, and it appeared that she had cast her magic in the first round of the final, earning a full mark of 90 points to stun the crowd in the Olympic Aquatics Center.

"I didn't feel nervous at all before the final," said Quan, "but since the second round, I was kind of on edge."

Quan, who usually performs in a league of her own, felt a strong challenge from her teammate and synchronized gold winning partner Chen Yuxi this time. After a lackluster performance in the third round, Quan was only 1.6 points ahead of a cool-headed Chen.

"I can only give myself 50 out of 100 points for today's performance," said Quan. "I didn't dive well except in the first round."

Despite her self-criticism, she was still good enough to defend her title, edging Chen into second place with a margin of 4.9 points.

"The most difficult thing for me in the past three years was adjusting my movements for each dive," said Quan in the news conference. "I had to modify my movements to deal with the increase in my body weight."

"My coaches are always there helping me and encouraging me," Quan said of five-time Olympic champion Chen Ruolin, who became her coach after the Tokyo Games.

"Sometimes, I didn't listen to her instructions carefully, then I felt my dives became worse and worse," Quan said. "So I realized that I had to be really serious and focus on my training."

Ten years ago, the young girl playing hopscotch with her classmates on the playground was noticed by coach Chen Huaming for her ability to jump higher and longer, despite her diminutive frame.

"But I'm not a talent," said Quan. "All my achievements came after repetitive practice and it's really hard. There were sweat and tears, but of course there was happiness."