China’s Olympics gold-winner Quan Hongchan offered free property, $30K by fans; Star’s father declines all
Quan Hongchan’s father supports the family with the meagre earnings he gets from Orange farming.
Fourteen-year-old Chinese diver Quan Hongchan, who captured hearts by winning the Olympic gold a few days ago at the Tokyo Olympics, faces a peculiar problem. The teenaged diver, who hails from a low-income family, began getting loads of gifts and offers of help from fans across China soon after her Olympic gold medal win. However, these offers of help and expensive donations are being declined by her family.
According to an SCMP report, Hongchan was offered an apartment, commercial property, and 200,000 yuan (US$30,800). The report quoted the diver’s father, an Orange farmer, saying that he declined all offers. Thanking all wellwishers, he said that “he did not take a penny”.
Quan, who is being termed China’s biggest star of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games as she had dominated the competition to take home her gold medal, lives in a remote village named Maihe, China’s Guangdong province. The Olympic star had come up with a beauty of a show at the Tokyo Olympics in the 10m platform diving final. She is now a celebrity not just for her Olympic success but also affable nature, which fans across the nation adore and applaud.
Quan Hongchan has Poor financial background
Her family’s financial background, however, is a mess. Quan’s mother is ill after she had suffered a severe car accident in 2017. Her father supports the family with the meagre earnings he gets from Orange farming. With the public coming to know of Quan’s family’s challenging situation, offers of help and gifts had started flowing in.
Social media chatter has also made the Olympic super star’s village a tourist destination. The crowds dare all Covid 19 restrictions to be at Maihe, the home of their celebrity star! Vloggers, fans, and the general public have begun camping in Maihe ever since Quan returned from Tokyo.
Quan Hongchan’s father says no to gifts
But Quan’s father doesn’t want to take the offers of help or the gifts. He has appealed to the people to go back home and just send regards. The report quoted him as saying, “There’s no need to come here. It’s disturbing their lives and ours too, isn’t it?”
The gifts that have been sent to Quan have flooded her home. They include Quan’s favorite snack called latiao. However, Quan’s father’s adamant stance has prompted the village committee to care for the gifts. The snacks that came in large numbers have been distributed among the children of the village.
Quan became part of the Chinese national team just about a year ago, and the Tokyo Games was her first Olympics. After learning to dive at the Zhanjiang Sports School in Guangdong when she was just seven years old, she made it her career. Earlier, at a press conference soon after her medal win, she told the media that her ill mother was why she learned to dive. She had said that she wanted to earn money to get medical treatment for her mother.
