The International Swimming Federation (FINA) 2021 Diving World Cup, a qualifying and test event for the Olympic Games, kicked off in Tokyo on May 1st. Chang Yani, a sports training student who graduated in 2020 from the School of Physical Education, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, represented the Chinese team; She participated in and won the gold medal in the women's 3-meter synchronized springboard event and the bronze medal in the women's 3m individual springboard event.

Chen Yiwen (left) and Chang Yani (right)

The Diving World Cup, the highest-level global diving event held biennially by FINA, is recognized as one of the "3 major Global Diving Meets", together with the World Swimming Championships and the Olympic Games. This year's Diving World Cup is the last qualifying event for the 2021 Tokyo Summer Olympic diving competition. Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen were the only Chinese pair selected to compete in the women's 3-meter individual and synchronized 3-meter springboard competitions.

In the women's synchronized 3m springboard, the first event of this year’s World Cup, Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen took an early lead and topped the standings. In the final round, the pair, with tacit cooperation and synchronized movements, presented a polished performance with minimal splashes in the entry. It is worth mentioning that for the last jump, Chang and Chen chose the combination of 5152B (Forward 2½ Somersaults 1 Twist) which has a degree of difficulty of 3.0, obtaining 72.90 points. In total, the two divers scored 317.16 points to claim the gold medal.

On May 3rd and 4th, Chang and Chen both competed in the women's 3m individual springboard event. Chang, who was unexpectedly injured during the semi-final due to a stepping error, persevered, exhibiting a solid performance in the final, winning the bronze medal with 344.40 points.

The two winners celebrated and hugged each other on the podium. "Don’t worry too much. It is quite common for athletes to get injured. Every diver has to go through something of this kind. I’m OK and just need a short-term recovery. I’ll soon be back to my stage." said the 20-year-old Chang Yani.

Sun Jingbo, Dean of HUST School of Physical Education, commended Chang’s excellent performance in the Diving World Cup and said, "Chang Yani was one of the first batch of national athletes enrolled in our school nationwide. As a diver in the national team, in addition to the daily high-intensity training, Chang also showed her strong desire to learn in the online professional courses every Thursday. No matter how late the lecture was scheduled, she always demonstrated full concentration and a rigorous attitude. In the interactive session of the class, she took an active part in communication with the national team members of other disciplines, and also raised questions according to her personal situation and learned from other’s experience.”

Sun also mentioned that along with Chang Yani, there were 24 national athletes in football, tennis, track and field, kayaking and other disciplines admitted to HUST. All of them satisfied the complete credit system, which featured three innovative ways of facilitating their cultivation and learning: online education, door-to-door lecturing at training sites and intensive teaching on campus during the training intervals. The innovative cultivation mode boosts the students’ talent in sport through the comprehensive development of moral, intellectual, physical and aesthetic labor to win glory for the university alongside inspiring the next generation of outstanding HUSTers.

Written by: Chen Yuan

Edited by：Shi Can, Andrew, Peng Yumeng