China makes a splash in Doha, as Quan claims gold

DOHA, Qatar — On a golden day for China, reigning Olympic champion Quan Hongchan gave herself a huge boost before heading to the Paris Games by winning the 10-meter platform competition at the World Aquatics Championships on Monday.

The 16-year-old Chinese star edged teammate Chen Yuxi, totaling 436.25 points over five dives. Chen, the two-time reigning world champion, settled for a silver this time with 427.80.

No one else was even close to the Chinese duo. Britain's Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix grabbed the final spot on the podium with 377.10 for the bronze.

China dominated day four of the world championships in Doha, with the diving triumph augmented by a pair of victories in artistic swimming.

After dominating the "big tower" over the last three years, Quan and Chen are overwhelming favorites to battle for gold in Paris.

Quan edged Chen for the top spot at the Tokyo Games in 2021, while their positions were reversed at the 2022 worlds in Budapest and again at the 2023 championships in Fukuoka.

Now, it's Quan back on top.

With the Olympics just five months away, China, which sent a scaled-back team to Doha, has won three of the first six events. The other golds have been shared among Britain, Australia and Mexico.

On Monday, China finished on top in both artistic swimming events, as well.

Twins Wang Liuyi and Wang Qianyi won the women's duet technical routine, while Yang Shuncheng took gold in men's solo technical.

The 27-year-old sisters received 266.0484 points. Kate Shortman and Isabelle Thorpe gave Team GB its best showing ever at the worlds, capturing the silver with marks of 259.5601.

The country's only other medal in artistic swimming was Shortman's solo free bronze at last summer's championships in Fukuoka.