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Stephy Zhang

As the best athletes prepare to perform on the region’s biggest stage at the coming Asian Games, Zhang Jiaqi, a Chinese Olympic diving champion, was making headlines for a different type of performance.
The 22-year-old former diver, who won gold at the 2018 Asian Games and the Tokyo Olympics, recently appeared on the reality television show My Little One, providing viewers with a look at her unapologetic love for anime, casual living habits and desire to break free from the state sports system.
Alongside Zhang, the current season features actresses Michelle Chen, Chen Yao and Huang Cancan.
The show highlighted that Zhang’s current situation was very different from her gruelling childhood in the national team.
Following her retirement in 2025 at 21 years old, Zhang declined a stable, state-arranged job, opting instead to rent a modest flat in Shanghai and start an e-commerce live stream.
When asked why she turned down state employment, she said: “The bigger the storm, the more expensive the fish,” implying a preference for high-risk, high-reward ventures.
On the show, Zhang revealed that she earned 810,000 yuan (US$120,000) when she was just 13 years old, a revelation that quickly topped Weibo trending topics.

Asked when she made her “first pot of gold”, Zhang replied: “I got my first pay cheque in 2014 when I was 10. It was probably around 4,000 to 5,000 yuan.”
When pressed about her largest source of income to date, she said: “Prize money. The biggest bonus was from a competition in 2017 when I was 13. It was 810,000 yuan.”
The prize money likely stemmed from her breakout performance at the 13th National Games in Tianjin in 2017. Representing Beijing, Zhang swept the women’s individual 10-metre platform and the synchronised 10m platform, beating Olympic champions and drawing praise from state media as the future of Chinese diving.
She later partnered with Chen Yuxi to win synchronised gold at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, her only Olympic appearance before the rise of Quan Hongchan and the physical challenges of adolescence relegated her to a backup role.
Selected by the Beijing diving team before she turned six, Zhang spent her youth confined to training halls, cafeterias and dormitories. She revealed on the show that her daily schedule was strictly micromanaged, from diet and sleep to weight control, leaving her fewer than 30 days a year to visit home.
In contrast, the reality show featured her sitting cross-legged on the floor of her small, cluttered Shanghai flat, binge-watching television while eating crisps. Food delivery boxes were piled up in the corner, cat hair covered the furniture and the refrigerator only had half-eaten apples and snacks.
Netizens were divided. Some called it a “pity” that an Olympic champion lived like that while others defended her, with one commenting: “This isn’t messy; this is the first time in her life she is living exactly the way she wants.”
Zhang admitted on the show that she now frequently replaces meals with snacks, achieving a “snack freedom” she never dared imagine. As for physical activity, she was blunt: “I don’t exercise right now. I just don’t want to.”
The show also highlighted the complex bond between Zhang and her mother, an emotional distance shaped not by personal conflict, but by years of forced separation during her time in the national team.
Viewers were particularly shocked by her mother’s hyper-critical parenting style, especially the relentless criticism over the mess, poor cooking skills and snacking habits, including a candid admission that she wished Zhang was more like another person on the show, Chen.
Zhang, who spent most of her young life diving, once told her mother: “I wasn’t raised by you; I was raised by the team.”

Despite her family’s concerns about the instability of live streaming, Zhang remains resolute. When she started, her audience numbered in the hundreds until her former teammate Quan Hongchan joined a chat, sparking accusations that Zhang was using her compatriot’s fame to boost her own name.
Zhang addressed the criticism directly. “I admit that some of my fans came from Quan Hongchan, but I don’t want to consume her popularity. I want to prove myself with my own abilities,” she said.
Rather than regressing, fans and commentators suggest Zhang is simply “making up for lost time” for the life skills and autonomy she missed while winning medals for the country.
“Being successful in diving doesn’t mean I’m successful in my entire life,” Zhang said. “New life is like this: one difficulty appears after another, and I go solve them. Once I solve them, I feel like I’m awesome and I’ve made progress again.”


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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Zhang Jiaqi (left) and Chen Yuxi  won the women’s synchronised 10m platform final at Tokyo Olympic Games. Photo: Xinhua

Former Olympic diver Zhang Jiaqi takes a rest on the floor of her flat. Photo: Screenshot/Mango TV

Zhang Jiaqi enjoys what she calls “snack freedom” after over a decade of strict dietary control in the national diving team. Photo: Screenshot/Mango TV

Zhang Jiaqi (left) won the synchronised 10m platform diving with Chen Yuxi at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021. Photo: Xinhua

Zhang Jiaqi’s debut live stream e-commerce session mixed reactions online. Photo: Screenshot

Zhang Jiaqi introducing herself at a women’s forum last weekend. Photo: Handout

Zhang Jiaqi won the 10m platform final at the 2018 World Cup in Wuhan. Photo: Getty Images

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Yan Ziyi of China beat Paris Olympic gold medallist Haruka Kitaguchi in Diamond League final. Photo: Xinhua

Yan Ziyi finishes the Diamond League season undefeated across five events. Photo: Xinhua 

Sport

China

Following retirement last year, 22-year-old former diver gives viewers a look at her unapologetic love for anime and casual living habits


Following retirement last year, 22-year-old former diver gives viewers a look at her unapologetic love for anime and casual living habits.


Quan Hongchan

Diving into a new life: Olympic champion Zhang Jiaqi defends choices on reality TV show

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Following retirement last year, 22-year-old former diver gives viewers a look at her unapologetic love for anime and casual living habits

Following retirement last year, 22-year-old former diver gives viewers a look at her unapologetic love for anime and casual living habits