On April 10, China's Ministry of Public Security announced preliminary enforcement results in a cyberbullying case targeting Quan Hongchan (全紅嬋), a three-time Olympic gold medalist. The creator of a WeChat group used to coordinate online attacks — a 31-year-old man surnamed Xu — was administratively detained for ten days and fined. Other participants in the group were also penalized according to law. This marks the first time a case of organized fan-group harassment against an athlete has been publicly disclosed at the national public security ministry level, signaling an escalation from local sports authority investigations to direct state law enforcement intervention.
The ministry's statement was notably firm in its language, identifying "fandom chaos" as "a major risk factor affecting the healthy development of sport," and issuing a clear warning: "Cyberspace is not a lawless territory."
A Group of Over 200, Coordinating Attacks Against a 19-Year-Old
The incident originated in a WeChat group called "Water Splash Conquerors Alliance."
According to a report by China News Service, the Ministry of Public Security stated that the group's creator, Xu, assembled divers' fans and industry insiders, repeatedly changed his username, and consistently posted insulting remarks about Quan, deliberately inciting antagonism and conflict. Reports from the Global Times and the South China Morning Post indicate the group had 282 members, with its group notice reportedly containing explicit rules for targeting Quan. Sustained abuse inside the group included mocking her appearance, questioning whether her titles were the result of biased judging, and calls for her to "retire as soon as possible." Some reports suggest that members may have included individuals connected to the diving community, though these identities have not been officially confirmed and remain under investigation.
Guangdong's Ersha Sports Training Center had earlier issued an official statement confirming it had formally filed a police report, and notified both the Swimming Sports Management Center under the General Administration of Sport of China and the Guangdong Provincial Sports Bureau. The center stated it would pursue legal means to protect Quan's lawful rights and interests. The Swimming Sports Management Center also issued a statement declaring zero tolerance for online violence, pledging that any individuals found responsible would be "dealt with seriously, without leniency."
警方抓獲全紅嬋遭網暴案嫌疑人pic.twitter.com/5jvJ3JKqDt
— 中國新聞社 (@CNS1952)April 10, 2026
19 Years Old, Three Gold Medals — and Too Afraid to Step on a Scale
To understand the severity of the attacks, it is necessary to understand the pressures Quan faced.
Quan rose to global prominence at age 14 at the Tokyo Olympics. At the 2024 Paris Olympics, she won two additional gold medals in individual and team events, making her one of China's most celebrated young athletes in recent years. Yet behind the accolades, natural physical changes associated with puberty drew external criticism framing her as "undisciplined."
In a profile published in People magazine on March 30, Quan revealed that she had become afraid to weigh herself, saying: "Every time I look in the mirror, I feel especially fat and bloated." In an effort to control her weight, she reduced her diet to one meal per day, enduring extreme hunger — yet her weight stubbornly refused to drop.
The Global Times cited her appeal in the interview: "I hope those attacking me will stop. Please don't insult me, don't attack my family and friends — otherwise they will all distance themselves from me." China Daily further reported that prolonged anxiety had caused Quan to experience insomnia and recurring nightmares — including dreams of falling from the diving platform — and that she had seriously considered retirement.
Warning Signs That Preceded the Storm
The organized cyberbullying campaign against Quan did not emerge without precedent in Chinese sport. According to the Global Times, during the 2024 Paris Olympics, sports journalist Zhu Xiaolong of Southern Media Group described Quan during a livestream as "strange" and "crazy," and commented that she "may not yet be fully mature as a person." He was subsequently investigated by his media organization.
During the 2025 National Diving Championships, Quan withdrew from competition due to injury, and teammate Chen Yuxi (陳芋汐) won the title — only to face a wave of abuse on Douyin from extreme online users, some of whom invoked Quan's name as a benchmark specifically to demean Chen. The platform was eventually compelled to delete large volumes of related content. Both athletes were victims. These episodes have been widely cited by commentators as warning signs: in an environment defined by extreme idol worship and factional allegiance, athletes can be elevated to hero status one moment and subjected to coordinated online violence the next.
Distorted Fan Culture and Gaps in Athlete Protection
In the wake of the Quan case, official statements have specifically identified "distorted fandom culture" as a core problem. Wang Dazhao (汪大昭), a Beijing-based sports commentator, told the Global Times: "What truly deserves attention on the field is the technical and tactical performance of athletes. Yet the extreme behavior of some fans has disrupted a healthy competitive environment."
Other analysts have noted that China, like other major sporting nations, has invested heavily in talent identification and training systems designed to produce Olympic champions — but institutional frameworks for long-term psychological support, responses to cyberbullying, and legal remedies have lagged significantly behind the pressures of the digital age. A commentary in the Workers' Daily stated plainly that the young women in diving face not only gravity and technical difficulty, but also the natural changes of physical development and the limits of psychological endurance — and that controlling their weight demands enormous sacrifice.
China's national swimming administration pledged in its statement to strengthen athlete protection mechanisms, including mental health support systems. Analysts describe this as a belated acknowledgment, but a starting point nonetheless.
The Investigation Continues — and She Says She Wants to Rest
Chinese law enforcement and sports authorities continue to pursue other individuals connected to the WeChat group. The group's creator has been penalized, but it remains unclear whether the administrative detention of one 31-year-old man will be sufficient to dismantle an organized attack involving hundreds of participants — or how accountability will be established for other members of the group who may have industry ties.
Quan herself has said she wants to rest and recover before deciding her next steps. She has noted that diving is no longer the entirety of her world.
Amid widespread public debate over whether she will continue competing, a broader question has begun to surface: when a country places young athletes on a podium, has it also prepared to offer them adequate protection and breathing room away from the spotlight?
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Original Article in Chinese
