On April 24, Sun Yang posted that he had begun to resume training.
But because his ban didn't end until the end of May, Sun Yang won't have a chance to compete in this year's Paris Olympics.
Some athletes are bent on bringing glory to their country, while others are ignoring the interests and honor of their country.
However, in an interview, a Chinese swimmer publicly refused to compete for China, and even said that he would not consider the national team!
As the banner of China's swimming community, Sun Yang has won numerous honors for the country with his outstanding achievements. He holds the impressive record of 14 world championships and holds the world record in the 1500m freestyle.
In the 2012 London Olympic Games, Sun Yang won 2 golds, 1 silver and 1 bronze medal, allowing Chinese swimming to show its strong strength on the world stage.
Unfortunately, Sun Yang missed the Tokyo 2020 Olympics in 2018 after being banned by FINA for refusing and interfering with doping tests.
This is undoubtedly a big blow to the Chinese swimming world, and people have high hopes for Sun Yang, hoping that he can make a comeback in the future and win more accolades for the country. During Sun Yang's absence, is there a successor to the Chinese swimming program?
In Sun's absence, a young Chinese-born athlete is rapidly emerging in the Australian swimming scene: 25-year-old William Yang, formerly known as Yang Xu.
Born in Australia, Yang started swimming at the age of 5 and received formal and professional training in Australia.
In 2017, he represented Beijing at the National Games, finishing eighth in the backstroke event, thus launching his career.
Two years later, in 2019, Yang Xu won the Australian National Championships in the 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle and 50m butterfly after switching to freestyle, and was named Australia's fastest freestyle swimmer of the year.
His outstanding performance earned him a selection as a member of the Australian national swimming team.
From an unknown teenager to a rising star in the Australian swimming world, Yang Xu's growth story is eye-catching.
He used practical actions to interpret the fighting spirit of perseverance and never give up, and also set up a new image of Chinese athletes on the world stage.
Despite his great progress, Yang Xu's career has not been smooth sailing. In 2023, he was first diagnosed with a cervical spine tumor and had to temporarily leave the arena for surgery.
When he recovered, an even more brutal blow struck - in November 2023, he injured cartilage tissue in his shoulder, interrupting his career again.
For a professional athlete, suffering a series of serious injuries is undoubtedly a fatal blow. Age and time are the most precious resources, and wasting too much time in treatment and rehabilitation will directly affect your peak.
Many people think that Yang Xu's career will come to an end.
However, the Chinese teenager once again used tenacious perseverance and tenacious fighting spirit to overcome many difficulties and return to the field.
In a competition in March 2024, Yang Xu won the second place in the men's 100-meter freestyle final by only a small margin, second only to the former Olympic champion Chalmers. Yang Xu took this opportunity to regain confidence and give wings to the upcoming Paris Olympics.
As an Australian-born Chinese athlete, Yang Xu's decision to become an Australian citizen has caused countless questions and criticism. After all, as a native Chinese, he should serve the motherland, not "fight back".
However, Yang Xu has his own opinions on this. In an interview, he explained that the fact of being born in Australia gives him a unique affection for the land.
At the same time, he also said that growing up in the melting pot of Australia can better develop his career, so playing for the Australian team is a more focused swimming choice.
Regarding the outside world's questions about his motive for "defecting", Yang Xu gave a negative response. "I just focused on swimming and swimming as fast as I could," he said. It seems that this young man has no other complicated thoughts, and simply hopes to show his strength on the field.
In fact, in recent years, there has been an increasing number of Chinese athletes naturalizing as foreign nationals.
Some people believe that this is because Chinese cannot achieve development at home and can only leave their homeland to find another job. But judging from Yang Xu's example, the reason is not so simple.
We should be clear that the main reason why many Chinese athletes choose to "fight back" is because their strength cannot win the favor of the national team.
In a sports country like China, which is full of talent, even if it has extraordinary talent, it may not be able to become the main force of the national team.
In order to constantly seek self-improvement, leaving China to seek another career has become a helpless choice.
Of course, there are also some countries with ulterior motives that deliberately use "off-the-shelf moves" to achieve their own goals. For example, the introduction of Yang Xu by the Australian swimming team is likely to have such a small ninety-nine.
But after all, Yang Xu is indeed an excellent athlete, and his personal ability should be judged by him, rather than speculation about other motives.
Looking at China's sports industry, we can find an obvious fact: China has always adhered to strict, fair and merit-based selection criteria, and only athletes with top strength can wear the national team jersey to represent China.
In the case of swimming, China has been making great achievements in this project for a long time. Since the rise of Sun Yang, the achievements of Chinese swimmers on the world stage are obvious to all.
But at the same time, we have also seen many rookies who were originally considered to have unlimited potential in China, and finally ended up in the regrettable ending of not being selected for the national team.
The reason behind this is that China has the strictest discipline and standards for the selection of athletes. Once an athlete has a waterloo on the field or is punished for disciplinary issues, the door to the national team will be closed to them forever.
The Chinese swimming team was hit hard by the "Qu Mei Buting" incident, which undoubtedly warned all athletes that discipline is the red line of everything.
It can be said that it is this strict selection system that has created the enduring strength of Chinese sports on the world stage. At the same time, it also makes those athletes who are not willing to stop at the status quo have to choose to leave China and find another way.
Although Sun Yang is absent from the Paris Olympics, we have every reason to believe that under the leadership of a group of rising stars, the Chinese swimmers will set off Tencent in Paris.
Judging from the world rankings, China has a number of athletes who are among the top in the world, and they have unlimited potential and high morale, and they will do their best to fight for the country.
At the same time, we also look forward to Sun Yang making a comeback after the expiration of the ban and continuing to contribute to China's swimming career. After all, a generation has a generation's pride, and Sun Yang's responsibility has not been fully fulfilled.
In general, Chinese swimming is ushering in a new dawn after a period of downturn. We are full of confidence in the performance of the Chinese swimmers at the Paris Olympics, and we look forward to more Chinese athletes like William Young to contribute to China's sports industry.