Podium selfies have been hugely popular at the Paris Olympics, but a medal-ceremony moment in the diving competition may have a deeper resonance.
When Chen Yiwen picked up and held synchro partner Chang Yani in her arms in celebration of their gold-medal success — causing the USA’s Kassidy Cook, who won silver with Sarah Bacon, to gasp in astonishment — their joy resulted in one of the earliest viral pics of the Games.
Priceless US team’s reaction to Chinese winning pose pic.twitter.com/21U9FN0hGj
Get off the sidelines and into the game
Since then, there has been a hope from many fans that Chen and Chang may be more than just teammates, trying to embrace a spirit of freedom in the City of Light.
Chang is the younger of the two divers, but was first to be a world champion — she took the 3m synchro title in 2017 at just 15 years of age, alongside double Rio Olympics champion Shi Tingmao.
Two years later, it was Chen who had a world title, in the individual 1m springboard. They started seriously competing together as a synchro partnership around 2021 — but such is the super-high standard of Chinese diving that neither was part of the team at the Tokyo Olympics.
They clicked very quickly, however, and have been world 3m synchro champions in each of the last three years. At their first Games, they stormed to Olympic gold, ahead of “Cook ‘n’ Bacon” and the British duo of Yasmin Harper and Scarlett Mew Jensen.
Exuberance is rarely seen from Chinese athletes which made the joy within Chen’s bridal-style carry of Chang particularly exciting to see.
Later, it emerged that the two athletes have posted images together on social media in their homeland that suggest a bond that goes beyond sports.
They’re an actual couple too!24-year-old Chen Yiwen and 22-year-old Chang Yani who won China’s first diving gold medal after beating the United States and British teams in the women’s synchronised 3-metre springboard final on Saturday had their relationship revealed after their… pic.twitter.com/jBClQLkpfy
That’s tricky to clarify. The chances of either Chang or Chen confirming or denying that they are an item appear slim.
Although same-sex relationships are not illegal in China, they are not recognized and the state is increasingly making the LGBTQ community and their human rights a taboo topic in society.
On social media, however, it’s said that talk of Chang and Chen being in love has been warmly received, suggesting public attitudes are largely tolerant and accepting, while not welcoming of Pride visibility as we would know it in the West.
After their success on Saturday, Chen posted a set of seven images to Instagram, captioned 2019 to 2024.
On Wednesday, the two divers will begin competing against each other in the Olympic women’s 3m springboard individual competition. The semifinals follow the next day, with the final on Friday.
At the World Championships in Doha in February, it was Chang who came out on top, with Chen taking silver.
As for the bigger picture in Paris, China is going for a Olympic diving clean sweep, having already captured four of the eight titles on offer.
It was British synchro men that prevented them from achieving this in Rio and Tokyo (first with Chris Mears and Jack Laugher in the 3m springboard, then with Tom Daley and Matty Lee in the 10m platform). Matthew Mitcham famously prevented that Chinese sweep in Beijing in 2008.
When Chang spoke to reporters after taking the synchro gold with Chen, she was already looking to the future.
“Today we performed normally but we have higher standards for ourselves when it comes to the scores. We need to keep working at it,” she told reporters.
Whether they are more than just teammates remains unclear. But love story or not, that podium picture is one to remember for Chang and Chen, and for their LGBTQ fans. We’ll always have Paris.
