With the Paris Olympics just around the corner, athletes from all over the world are eager to win a gold medal for their country.
In Australia's swimming team, there is a yellow-skinned, black-eyed Chinese.
This person's name is Yang Xu, and he also has the name "William Yang".
The 25-year-old Chinese swimming genius chose to represent Australia in the Olympics and played for the Australian swimming team with all his heart.
Because he has a "Yang" in his name, some Westerners compare him with Sun Yang, thinking that Yang Xu is not inferior to Sun Yang.
As a Chinese, why represent Australia? How strong is he?
Chinese swimming genius
When it comes to men's swimming, everyone will think of Sun Yang, the "big devil of Chinese swimming".
Sun Yang has won several awards for the mainland with his strength, and before he was banned, he won a total of 14 individual swimming world championships.
Source: Modern Express
The 1500-meter freestyle became famous, and the world record is still unsurpassed, which shows how strong Sun Yang's strength is!
Sun Yang successfully won 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze in the London Olympics, laying a foundation for Chinese swimming.
In 2018, Sun Yang missed the Tokyo Olympics because he refused a drug test, and was banned after that.
Now, Westerners compare Yang Xu and Sun Yang together, what is Yang Xu's strength?
Yang Xu was born in 1999, when his parents settled in Australia for business and other reasons.
His father hoped that Yang Xu could develop in the land of Australia and experience the culture and customs here.
But fate played a joke, and when Yang Xu was four years old, his parents decided to bring him back to China.
In the years in China, Yang Xu fell in love with swimming, but his performance on the field was always mediocre.
It wasn't until 2017 that he represented Beijing at the National Games, finishing eighth, which was undoubtedly a blow to an aspiring athlete.
Just when everyone thought that Yang Xu would continue to struggle in China, he unexpectedly chose to become an Australian citizen.
This decision has undoubtedly surprised many people, and has even been criticized and questioned by some people.
However, for Yang Xu, he doesn't think so, he said, "I just focus on swimming and swimming as fast as I can." ”。
In an interview, Yang Xu's words seemed to tell everyone that he didn't seem to have much affection for China, "I was born there and I like that country very much." "
He was clearly referring to Australia rather than China, but in fact, Yang Xu's upbringing shows that his words are inextricably linked to his unique family background.
So, Yang Xu, who chose to join the Australian swimming scene, has developed as well as he imagined?
Source: CCTV
Yang Xu's career development in Australia
After becoming an Australian citizen, Yang Xu, under the guidance of Australian swimming coach Bobby Hurley, Yang Xu made a bold change - from his original main backstroke event to freestyle.
This decision is also a bold attempt for Yang Xu.
As a veteran coach, Hurley has a knack for identifying elite athletes.
He immediately keenly captured Yang Xu's potential and decisively changed the track for him.
Changing the track is not so simple, there are many differences in technical details between freestyle and backstroke, and Yang Xu had to learn from scratch and master a new movement essentials.
Soon, Yang Xu smelled victory in the Australian domestic competition.
In 2019, he won the Australian National Freestyle Championships and was named Australia's fastest freestyle swimmer that year.
After that, Yang Xu won many awards, which made him full of confidence.
Some Western media praised Yang Xu as "the future of Australian freestyle" and "Australia's golden hope".
Everything seemed to be going so smoothly, just when everyone thought that Yang Xu would go all the way like this, fate played a joke again.
In 2023, Yang Xu was diagnosed with a cervical spine tumor, and he had to temporarily leave the arena and undergo surgery.
For an entire season, he was not seen by the Australian swimming team.
Just when people thought Yang Xu was about to return to the top, an even more brutal blow came again - in November 2023, his career was interrupted again due to a shoulder cartilage injury.
Two major injuries in a row have undoubtedly made the outside world lose confidence in the youngster's prospects.
After all, age and time are the most valuable resources for athletes, and Yang Xu wasted a lot of time in treatment and rehabilitation, but the years did not wait for anyone.
When there was a lot of discussion in the outside world, Yang Xu returned to the top again.
In an event in March 2024, Yang Xu reappeared in the pool with an unexpected result.
In the final of the men's 100m freestyle, he narrowly finished second behind former Olympic champion Chalmers.
Yang Xu regained his former style, and the excellent results in this competition also indicate that he will attack the dream Paris Olympics.
What should Yang Xu think?
For Chinese swimmers, Yang Xu is like a seed sown in a foreign country, which makes people sigh and have a trace of expectation.
It is undeniable that Yang Xu's decision to join the Australian national team was really surprising.
At that time, many people had high hopes for this potential stock, hoping that he could become the pillar of Chinese men's swimming after Sun Yang, the "king of swimming".
So the choice made by Yang Xu undoubtedly disappointed Chinese swimming fans.
Some netizens made angry voices at the time: "Yang Xu was focused on training when he was in China, and now he is gone, isn't this ungrateful?" "
Of course, there are also people who understand and support Yang Xu's choice.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
Netizen: After all, as an Australian-born Chinese, Yang Xu has a unique emotional sustenance for both countries, and from the perspective of career development, joining the Australian team may be a smoother path for him.
It is gratifying that with the continuous enhancement of China's comprehensive strength, the sports industry has also been promoted in an all-round way in recent years, and the number of Chinese swimming talents has also been increasing.
It is expected that in the near future, a large number of "Sun Yang" will be born in the Chinese swimming world.
Sources of information:
CCTV Chinese Story