China's diving "Dream Team" will likely remain the dominant medal collector at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, backed by its deep talent pool and the divers' world-class performances at the National Games.

With a legion of multiple-time Olympic and world champions clashing at one meet, the diving program in Guangzhou, has, perhaps, outranked all other international events in terms of the quality of the field, making it, arguably, the toughest competition in the careers of China's best divers.

Athletes representing their respective home provinces, or municipalities, had to beat more world-champion-caliber opponents at the 15th National Games than they ever normally face at international events, to reign supreme in each of the 14 individual and team disciplines.

After winning the women's 10m platform gold on Monday, four-time individual world champion Chen Yuxi said she's even more pleased to see the collective rise of the younger generation than claiming her maiden National Games individual title.

"For competitive sports, having a steady stream of talent is more important than being strong alone in promoting the event's development," said Chen, representing Team Shanghai at the Games, which are being held in Guangdong province and the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macao.

Chen also won a gold medal in the synchronized 10m platform alongside diving partner Zhang Minjie last week.

According to official statistics from the 15th National Games, eight of the 12 athletes who competed in women's individual 10m platform were born after 2010, with the youngest, Liu Zihan, just 11 years old, demonstrating China's deep talent pool in the sport.

"To be able to compete with so many experienced and decorated older sisters, and finish on the podium together with them, I am just happy," Liu, who won bronze in 10m platform, said while looking up at Chen during the post-final news conference.

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For the 20-year-old Chen, her own regret of having not claimed an individual Olympic gold yet, and only winning at the National Games this year, largely came down to the dominance of her national teammate, the seemingly invincible Quan Hongchan, who had been sidelined for almost half a year by multiple injuries, before making an impressive return in Guangzhou.

The 18-year-old diving prodigy drew loud cheers from a capacity crowd at the Guangdong Olympic Sports Center's swimming and diving hall on Nov 2, when she helped the Guangdong squad win the women's team discipline at the Games in her first official competition since May.

The teen master of the "splash-disappearing technique", referring to her deft body control that keeps the splash to a minimum when she enters the water, delivered once again, suggesting that she's not done yet, even having won back-to-back individual 10m platform Olympic titles by beating Chen both times at Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024.

"I still believe I am competing well enough that I could complete a full set of dives with quality," Quan said after finishing fifth with Wang Weiying in the synchro discipline on Nov 5.

"I am not at my best now, but I am happy, and really enjoying the competition."

Chen, Quan's gold-winning synchro partner in Paris, welcomed the return of her friend and biggest individual rival, saying she expects Quan to return to her peak form soon, as their healthy competition always helps bring out the best in each other.

Women's reigning Olympic 3m springboard champion Chen Yiwen, 26, had to settle with a bronze in the individual final on Tuesday, beaten by her fellow Guangdong teammate and eventual gold winner Lin Shan and runner-up Chen Jia, representing Sichuan province.

"All the other divers have done pretty well, better than I did, in this final, showing how high the level of competition has been," said Chen Yiwen.

In men's events, Wang Zongyuan's surging form, underlined by his individual 3m springboard win on Monday, suggested that he will keep pushing Team China's drive to dominate the springboard together with two-time individual Olympic champion Xie Siyi, who won the synchro with Guangdong teammate Huang Bowen.

The duel between Shandong's Lian Junjie and Beijing veteran Cao Yuan on the 10m platform, where Lian won his national title by beating Cao on Tuesday, is expected to continue sharpening the pair's skills in the buildup to LA28.

"I am still a climber, in terms of achieving my career goal at the LA Olympics," said the 25-year-old Lian, who won his sole Olympic gold in men's synchro 10m platform with Yang Hao in Paris.

"China's diving team builds on its tradition that each generation passes on to the next, in order to always stay competitive and on top of the world.

"For the younger guys, I just hope they stay resilient and mentally strong to withstand the grind of hard training every day. Perseverance is the key to success."

China's world-beating diving squad swept all eight gold medals at Paris 2024, after collecting seven out of eight at Tokyo 2020.

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Zhou Jihong, who came out of retirement to return as head coach of the national team in June, has sent a strong signal that the program will go all out on its journey to LA28, with its sights firmly set on another golden sweep.

Notably, it was Zhou who won the country's first-ever Olympic diving gold at Los Angeles 1984.

Contact the writers at zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn