Interview with Sun Yang: After the ban, I miss the feeling of standing on the starting platform of the game

The Paper

2024-05-28 14:16Posted on the official account of Shanghai The Paper

In an exclusive interview with The Paper, Sun Yang said that four years of pain and regret have passed, and now he has decided to return to the game and give himself an explanation. The Paper Reporter He Kai Huang Zhihan Video Editor Huang Zhihan Intern Tong Jiaxuan Editor Wu Jiaying Poster Yu Fei (10:18)

During the four years and three months he was banned, Sun Yang said he had not stopped swimming training. Selected at the age of 7, he has been swimming in this "swimming lane" for more than 20 years, day after day.

Probably no one doubts his talent and hard work. Became famous at a young age and a Grand Slam winner, Sun Yang set a swimming world record that has not been broken for 13 years.

Sun Yang in training.

But at his most energetic moment, everything came to an abrupt end.

On February 28, 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that Chinese swimmer Sun Yang would be banned for eight years for failing to comply with World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations and sabotaging anti-doping sampling. In response, Sun Yang decided to appeal to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

The appeal was ultimately unsuccessful. On March 4, 2022 local time, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court announced that the ban on Sun Yang would remain until the end of May 2024.

In retrospect, Sun Yang said that it was a "painful and long time." He didn't want to talk to anyone, and he didn't have a place to train normally, so he just swam in the gym downstairs at home, and kept swimming, until his parents were scared.

He still survived the hardest time. In the past four years, he got married and returned to school to study, and at this time, Sun Yang, who was sitting in front of us for an interview, was thirty-two years old, in good condition, and looked much calmer.

Over the years, he remembered the news and rumors about him, both good and bad, but now he is unlikely to be affected by these.

Back in the ring, he is no longer young, and it may take several times as hard to maintain his former form, but he still wants to compete, and this time, his opponent is himself.

Sun Yang in training.

[The following is an exclusive interview with Sun Yang by The Paper]

"The decision to return is to give yourself an explanation"

The Paper: When did you decide to return to the game?

Sun Yang: In 2020, when I received the final result of the arbitration, I made up my mind that I would definitely come back in four years and would not choose to retire.

The Paper: Why did you make this decision?

Sun Yang: First of all, I want to stick to my love for swimming. Although I am no longer young, I still want to continue racing as a swimmer, and also to live up to the fans who have been following me and like me. I have always been a person who does not admit defeat, and for the sake of my own persistence for so many years, I decided to return to give myself an explanation.

The Paper: What were you thinking when you received the arbitration result?

Sun Yang: I still remember the scene very clearly, I was preparing for the Tokyo Olympics in the training hall, I was with my physical trainer, and my mother came to pick me up, and I said I didn't want to go home, I wanted to be alone. As I walked downstairs from the dormitory, my mother and my team said that you must believe me, I will definitely come back in 4 years, please support me. 4 years, 4 365 days, was painful and long for me, but now looking back, it was all in the past.

The Paper: Can you tell us about your life during the official resumption of training?

Sun Yang: In fact, in the past four years, my life has basically maintained two points and one line, that is, the training hall and home, and I still demand myself with the standards of professional athletes. Unlike before, there are not as many games and more time to spend with my family.

The Paper: Will the training intensity increase after the official return is announced? Can you adapt?

Sun Yang: Recently, I have been training at some high intensity, and I occasionally feel tired. But I've always been in good shape, and I can overcome some small difficulties. As athletes struggle with injuries, exhaustion and stress every day, all I can do now is train hard, stay fit and confident.

The Paper: How long do you train every day now?

Sun Yang: A training session is about 7,000 to 8,000 meters, and it takes about five hours to have two training sessions a day. After training, I need to do physiotherapy, and I go home at the end of each day around 9 p.m., and then have dinner.

Sun Yang in training.

The Paper: Will you test your current competitive form?

Sun Yang: I don't go to the test, it's more normal training, and I think I'm still in good condition. I tested it myself during the Tokyo Olympics that year, and my results were still at the level of a champion.

The Paper: Is there any pressure to announce your official return to the game?

Sun Yang: There is definitely pressure, the peak of swimmers is about 28 years old, and I am 32 years old this year. I can clearly feel that my recovery ability has decreased compared to before, and it may take several times as hard work to maintain the same form, but I still want to compare myself to myself. I am not as persistent and concerned about the ranking and gold medal as I used to be, I am more concerned about the meaning of perseverance and hard work, and I want to break through the traditional thinking and barriers to seek a higher spiritual strength.

"The good and the bad are remembered, but they are no longer easily influenced"

The Paper: What have you been busy with in the more than four years since you left the arena?

Sun Yang: The focus of life is still training day after day, I have been swimming since I was 7 years old, I have been swimming for more than 20 years, my life is inseparable from the pool, even if there is no competition, I have not relaxed my requirements for myself. I met my wife and started a family, I am studying for a PhD at Shanghai Sport University, I was admitted to Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business last year, and now I take classes every week after training.

The Paper: Why did you decide to focus more on studying?

Sun Yang: Looking back on the training and competitions that have been in the pool for more than ten years, the life that has been stuffed in the pool is actually very boring. I have always felt that my understanding of this society is very insufficient, so I have always hoped to have the opportunity to go to school to enrich myself, these years of study have added a lot of color to my life, not only learned knowledge but also met a lot of interesting teachers and classmates, which has benefited me a lot.

The Paper: Is it a pity that you missed two Olympic Games and a lot of swimming events?

Sun Yang: At first, I was more concerned, especially during the Tokyo Olympics, I would use my test results to compare with their event results, and I didn't pay much attention to various events and selections in the past two years. Because I'm going to be back in the ring, I hope to prove myself with my results then.

The Paper: Have you experienced a low point in your life in the past few years?

Sun Yang: When I first received the results in 2020, I guess the whole person was in the worst state, and I didn't want to talk and communicate with anyone. At that time, I couldn't train normally for various reasons, so I had to swim in the pool of the gym downstairs of my house, and I kept swimming until my parents were scared and afraid that my mental state would be wrong. Now that I think about it, that time was the most tolerant period for my parents, because they were very strict with me since I was a child, and they always urged me to train seriously, only during that time they were obedient to me, and I agreed to anything, for fear that I would not be able to think about it after encountering a blow.

The Paper: Have you ever thought about giving up? For example, completely leave the field and change the way of life.

Sun Yang: No, in the past few years, many people have advised me to change tracks and start again, but I have never had the idea of doing so. During this period, there were times when I slacked off, and many times I really didn't want to practice, and I would adjust by going out for a walk, but I never thought about giving up.

The Paper: How did you come out later?

Sun Yang: My own adjustment, the company of my family and the care of the organization. Because exercise itself can secrete dopamine, is a good way to relieve bad mood, insisting on training has always been a foundation for me to maintain a good attitude, and the company of my family has also given me a lot of motivation, my father told me that life must learn to enjoy the peak, but also learn to get up from the trough. In the past few years, the organization and leadership have been encouraging and helping me, and today I should thank everyone for my decision to return to the game, because it is everyone's joint efforts that give me the courage to start again today.

Sun Yang is with his family.

The Paper: You also started your own family last year, does it mean anything special to you?

Sun Yang: I am very grateful to my wife, I met her when my life was at a low point, and her appearance gave me a lot of companionship and encouragement. My wife once joked with me, saying that if it wasn't for this low period, I probably wouldn't have met her and got together, I think it may really be the case, many things can't be drilled into the horns, only care about what you have lost, forget what you have gained, you have to learn to reconcile with yourself, learn to let go.

The Paper: How do you sum up the four years and three months since you left the game?

Sun Yang: I think the past four years have gained more than regrets. I'm still the same person, but I'm calmer. I've been through a lot of pain over the last few years, there's been a lot of news and gossip about me on and off the field, and I remember the good and the bad that I'm not as easily influenced as I used to be, and now I'm more focused and focused on what I think is important.

"I miss the feeling of standing on the podium"

The Paper: Looking back on your previous sports career, which moment impressed you the most?

Sun Yang: Looking back now, every moment on the field is still fresh in my memory, and the most impressive thing is the gold medal in the 200m freestyle at the Rio Olympics, I think that gold medal proves a lot.

The Paper: Do you miss the feeling of standing on the field?

Sun Yang: Yes, I've been simulating the feeling of official competitions in recent training, and I miss the feeling of standing on the jumping platform in official competitions.

Sun Yang in training.

The Paper: Do you have a specific plan for the comeback now?

Sun Yang: It is still being determined, and it is expected that he will officially return to the field in the second half of this year.

The Paper: Thinking that the game is about to be played, is there any pressure?

Sun Yang: I don't think I'm anxious about what didn't happen now, I used to think that I was going to have a game soon, but now I just feel that I do a good job in every training session at the moment, and it's not too late to have a real game and then there is pressure. Recently, I particularly like the phrase "born fearless to fight to the end" on the Internet, I think these eight words are my motto now, I hope that I can fight more bravely now, not to compare with my opponents, but to try to do a little better every day than I was yesterday.

The Paper: Many athletes will say that "the biggest opponent is yourself", what do you think?

Sun Yang: I didn't understand this sentence before, but I was looking at the opponents in the pool on the field, and I thought to myself, how could my opponents be themselves? Now I understand this sentence, in the end, what really bothers you is your own demons, whether to persist or give up, how to face your own heart is the most important.

Sun Yang in training.

The Paper: Now you have many identities, "athlete", "businessman" and "Internet celebrity", what do you think of these labels?

Sun Yang: I'm just a sports person, everything I do now revolves around my identity as an athlete, and there may be other tracks planned in the future, but the root of everything is that I am a swimmer.

The Paper: When will you choose to retire?

Sun Yang: I haven't considered retirement yet, and I may choose to retire when I really feel that I can't keep up with the pace of the game. I have a lot of athletes that I really like such as Federer, Djokovic, Cristiano Ronaldo, and James in the NBA, they are all top athletes in various fields, Federer is 40 years old and officially retired, and several other athletes who are also close to 40 are still fighting in the sports arena, I want to learn from them, of course, older athletes have to work many times harder than younger athletes, and this is also the challenge I will face in the future.

The Paper: Do you have any plans for your life after retirement?

Sun Yang: In terms of work, it will definitely focus on the sports industry itself, and will combine the current new business formats to better promote the sport of swimming, including creating a new employment platform for more retired athletes. The family will choose to accompany his wife and parents more, although he has been competing all over the world all year round, but in fact, he has never had his own time to go around, and he will travel more with his family to relax on the day he really retires, and make up for the regret of not accompanying his family for so many years.

Poster by Yu Fei

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