Eden Cheng (born 2 December 2002) is an English elite diver representing Great Britain and England. She won her first major medal in 2018 at the age of 15, when she won the gold medal at the European Championships in the 10 metre platform synchro with Lois Toulson.

Eden Cheng
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (2002-12-02) 2 December 2002 (age 21)
London, England[1]
Sport
Country Great Britain
SportDiving
Coached byChen Lin
Medal record
Women's diving
Representing  Great Britain
European Games
Gold medal – first place 2023 Kraków-Małopolska 10 m platform
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2018 Glasgow 10 m synchro
Silver medal – second place 2020 Budapest 10 m synchro
European Diving Championships
Gold medal – first place 2023 Rzeszów 10 m platform
Silver medal – second place 2019 Kyiv 10 m mixed synchro
FINA Diving World Cup
Silver medal – second place 2021 Tokyo 10 m synchro
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Silver medal – second place 2022 Birmingham 10 m synchro

Early life

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Cheng was born in London in 2002 to Chinese immigrants.[1][2] She studied at Alleyn's School in Dulwich, London.[3] She previously went to Streatham and Clapham Junior School. She took up diving after being inspired during the 2012 London Olympics.[4] She joined Crystal Palace Diving where she trains under Chen Lin.[3][5]

In 2022, Cheng moved to California and dives with the UCLA women's diving team.[6]

Career

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Cheng started competing as a junior in 2013 and was a National champion a number of times. Cheng competed at National Age Group Championships, and won the 3m Springboard event in 2016.[7]

In 2017, she competed at her first British Junior Elite Championships and won gold.[8] The same year Cheng made her debut in a European championship, representing Great Britain at the Junior European Diving Championships in Bergen, where she won a gold medal.[9] She started competing as a senior in a number of FINA Grand Prix events in 2017, one of the youngest divers chosen for these events. She won a silver in the Mixed 10m platform event with Kyle Kothari, as well as a bronze in the 10m Synchro event with Emily Martin in Singapore.[10]

2018–2019

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In her first senior competition at the 2018 European Championships in Glasgow/Edinburgh, she partnered with Lois Toulson in the women's 10 metre synchro platform, and at the age of 15 she won her first senior international gold medal.[11][12]

Cheng took part in her first World Championship at the 2019 World Aquatics Championships held in Gwangju, South Korea.[13] Cheng finished in sixth in the 10 metre synchro with Toulson,[14] as well as the team event with Ross Haslam.[15] At the 2019 European Diving Championships held in Kyiv, Cheng won silver in the Mixed 10 m platform synchro with Noah Williams and bronze in the team event.[16]

2021–2022

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At the 2021 FINA Diving World Cup held in Japan as an official test event for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Cheng and Toulson won silver in synchronised 10m platform, thereby securing their qualification to the Olympics.[17] The pair also won silver in synchronised 10m platform at the European Championships.[18] At the 2020 Olympics held in 2021, the pair finished seventh in the synchronized 10 metre platform after a poor start.[19]

At the 2022 Commonwealth Games, Cheng partnered with Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix on the women's 10m synchro, and they won a silver.[20]

Career highlights

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Competition [21] Event 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Ref.
International, representing   Great Britain
Olympic Games Women's 10m Synchro 7th
World Aquatics Championships Women's 10m Platform 26th
Women's 10m Synchro 6th
Team 6th
European Aquatics Championships Women's 10m Platform 9th
Women's 10m Synchro  
10m Mixed Synchro  
Team  
FINA Diving World Cup 10m Synchro 7th  
International, representing   England
Commonwealth Games Women's 10m Platform
Women's 10m Synchro  
10m Mixed Synchro
Domestic
British Diving Championships Women's 10m Platform   9th  
Women's 10m Synchro      
British National Diving Cup Women's 10m Platform

References

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  1. ^ a b "Diving - CHENG Eden - Tokyo 2020 Olympics". Tokyo2020.org. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  2. ^ "OPINION - Emma Raducanu shows best of British-Chinese community". sg.news.yahoo.com. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  3. ^ a b "Crystal Palace Diving wants to take the plunge and expand". South London Press & Mercury. 12 February 2018.
  4. ^ Press Association (7 August 2018). "Laugher clinches diving double gold for Great Britain". Telegraph & Argus.
  5. ^ "Alleyn's School Newsletter, Trinity Term 2017" (PDF): 14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. ^ "European Champion Eden Cheng Signs NLI With UCLA". UCLA. Retrieved 14 November 2022.
  7. ^ "Cheng dominates 3m Springboard in session two". Swimming.org. 8 July 2016.
  8. ^ "Ruby Bower lands Group A Platform title at Junior Elites". Swimming.org. 10 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Eden Cheng wins European Junior gold in Bergen". Swimming.org. 1 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Eden selected to represent GB at upcoming senior Grand Prix". Crystal Palace Diving.
  11. ^ Woods, Mark (7 August 2018). "Teenagers Cheng and Toulson win diving gold at European Championships". The Guardian.
  12. ^ "GB's Cheng and Toulson win diving gold". BBC Sport. 7 August 2018.
  13. ^ "FINA World Diving Championships 2019". swimming.org. 12 July 2019. Archived from the original on 29 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  14. ^ Hope, Nick (14 July 2019). "World Aquatics Championships: Lois Toulson and Eden Cheng secure 2020 World Series place". BBC Sport.
  15. ^ "Haslam and Cheng in the mix for Britain at World Championships". swimming.org. 16 July 2019.
  16. ^ "Russian double, Kuznetsov performs first 100-pointer of the meet". LEN European Aquatics. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2021.
  17. ^ "Toulson, Cheng secure Olympic qualification while Laugher, Goodfellow win gold". Swimming.org. 2 May 2021.
  18. ^ Hope, Nick. "European Diving Championships: Lois Toulson & Eden Cheng win 10m silver". BBC Sport.
  19. ^ "Lois Toulson and Eden Cheng bounce back from nervy opening in Olympic final". Swimming.org. 27 July 2021.
  20. ^ Gardner, Jamie (6 August 2022). "Second medal for Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix with silver alongside Eden Cheng". The Independent.
  21. ^ "Andrea Spendolini-Sirieix". British Swimming. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
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