Police in southern China arrested a 31-year-old man accused of repeatedly insulting an athlete online, identified by Chinese state media as three-time Olympic diving champion Quan Hongchan.
Quan recently revealed in a tearful interview that she had considered retiring after intense scrutiny over her weight.
The 19-year-old, who won gold at the pandemic-delayed Games in Tokyo in 2021 when she was just 14 before winning two more golds in Paris in 2024, has become one of China’s most popular athletes.
Police in Guangzhou city’s Yuexiu District said in a statement on Friday that a 31-year-old man surnamed Xu had “repeatedly made insulting comments about an athlete from the Ersha Sports Training Center” in a group chat on the WeChat messaging platform, which had “caused a bad influence”.
The police had detained Xu for 10 days and fined him while “legally confronting other relevant persons in the group”.
The police statement did not identify Quan by name, but state media reported that the case is related to the diver who is known to swim at the Ersha Sports Training Center.
Chinese authorities have grappled with what state media has called “toxic fandom” surrounding its sports stars.
It includes fans obsessing over athletes’ personal lives and cyberbullying opponents, often through online social media groups.
After Quan’s interview in March, the country’s sports authorities vowed to investigate, while Quan’s swimming club said it had reported the case to the police.
Quan told Chinese magazine Renwu that her period had started after the Paris Games, which she said caused her to gain weight even when “eating little”.
“After the Olympics I actually thought about retiring,” she said.
Quan said she was repeatedly asked about her weight.
“During that time, not only within the team, but also in public opinion outside, every day I saw people saying I was fat.”
