Qian Hong was born on January 30, 1971, in Baoding, Hebei Province. She is a former Chinese female swimmer.

In the National Spring Swimming Zone Championships in 1986, she and her teammates set a national record of 3 minutes and 51.19 seconds in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay. That same year, at the 10th Asian Games in Seoul, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly with a time of 1 minute and 1.36 seconds, as well as the gold medal in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay and the silver medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay.

In 1987, she won the 100-meter butterfly championship at the U.S. Swimming Open with a time of 1 minute and 0.05 seconds, ranking fourth in the world that year. Also in 1987, she won the gold medal in the same event at the 6th National Games of China with a time of 1 minute and 0.45 seconds.

In April 1988, she participated in the 3rd Asian Swimming Championships in Guangzhou, winning the gold medal with a time of 59.93 seconds and setting an Asian record. Later that year, at the 24th Olympic Games in Seoul, she won the bronze medal with a time of 59.52 seconds in the 100-meter butterfly. She was also awarded the title of International Sports Master that year.

In 1990, at the 11th Asian Games in Beijing, she won the gold medal in the 4x100-meter medley relay and two silver medals in the 100-meter butterfly and 200-meter butterfly.

In 1991, at the 6th World Swimming Championships in Perth, she won the gold medal in the 100-meter butterfly and achieved an impressive performance by ranking first in the 50-meter butterfly (exhibition event).

In 1992, at the Barcelona Olympic Games, she broke the Olympic record in the women's 100-meter butterfly and won the gold medal.

She has been repeatedly named one of China's top ten swimmers.

In 2008, Qian Hong participated in the torch relay for the Beijing Olympics.

She participated in the Daguang·TOP Sports "Most Beijing" boutique road race.

She also participated in the Wang Liping-initiated Second Ring Yongdingmen Road Race, completing 5 kilometers with her daughter.

Olympic champion Qian Hong has participated in the Nanjing Running Festival held on April 24.

Olympic champion Qian Hong also attended the Beijing Marathon participant meeting.