Quan Hongchan competes in the women's 10-meter platform diving competition semi-finals on March 21, 2023. Photo: Chen Xia/GT
Chinese divers execute somersaults before diving into the water in the blink of an eye and later emerge from the pool amid thundering cheer and applause from spectators, who could only watch such scenes online in the months when the COVID-19 epidemic was at its most severe.
The China Diving National Championships, running from March 19 to 25 in Shanghai, is one of the first national-level sporting events to be held in front of a live audience after COVID response optimization.
The diving championships are incredibly popular among Shanghai's residents, as evidenced by tickets having been sold out well before the event kicked off. Some champions' slots were also fully sold out "within hours," the event's organizers said.
The Global Times reporters witnessed crowds flooding into the stadium in the Pudong New Area on days in which the championships were held. Some of the attendees excitingly waved red inflatable "cheer sticks," and chanted the names of their favorite athletes after each dive.
The championships gather top Chinese divers including six Olympic champions and 13 world champions.
One of the divers is 17-year-old Tokyo Olympic champion and Shanghai native Chen Yuxi who joined China's national diving team in early 2019. Before that Chen had been training with the Shanghai diving team for years.
This time Chen competed at the women's diving synchronized 10-meter platform and women's diving 10-meter platform on March 19 and 21, respectively. Having a home advantage brought her good fortune, as she won gold in both competitions with stable performances.
The young champion was, however, not very satisfied with her performances. Chen told the media that problems she encountered in the course of her training also reoccurred during the championships.
"I will continue to improve myself in future training," Chen said at a press conference after the women's diving 10-meter platform competition on Tuesday, in response to a question raised by the Global Times.
The championships also serve as qualifiers for the Paris Olympic Games 2024, Fukuoka World Aquatics Championships 2023, the Hangzhou Asian Games and the Chengdu World University Games.
As the first diving event for athlete selection for the four world-class competitions, the championships are of great significance, the manager of the Chinese diving team Zhou Jihong said at a press conference ahead of the event.
The diving championships included many domestic high-level sports events that have begun to welcome live spectators since China optimized its COVID policy, such as CBA (China Basketball Association) matches. Insiders told the Global Times that they are optimistic that the sporting events industry will rebound robustly this year.
Chen Yuxi competes in the women's 10-meter platform diving competition on March 21, 2023, for which she won a gold medal. Photo: VCG 
Wang Zongyuan competes in the men's three-meter springboard diving competition on March 21, 2023, for which Wang won a gold medal. Photo: VCG 
Zhang Jiaqi executes a pre-dive maneuver during the women's 10-meter platform semi-final diving competition on March 21, 2023. Photo: Chen Xia/GT
Athletes in the women's synchronized three-meter springboard diving competition await the award ceremony on March 19, 2023. Photo: Chen Xia/GT
Athletes mid-dive in the mixed synchronized 10-meter platform diving competition on March 20, 2023. Photo: Chen Xia/GT
Two young athletes talk to their coach during the women's synchronized three-meter springboard diving competition on March 19, 2023. Photo: Chen Xia/GT
