After being stranded for 4 years and 3 months, 32-year-old Sun Yang set sail again

Wei Yumu watched sports

2024-05-28 15:50Posted in Jiangsu Sports Creators

Sun Yang is free.

In fact, on the third day of the ban, Sun Yang returned to the water and the gym alone. He felt that he had to persevere, and he had to persevere.

This insistence is 4 years and 3 months – from February 28, 2020 to May 28, 2024, from 28 to 32 years old.

With the end of the ban and Sun Yang's freedom, his persistence finally has a more realistic meaning. If this journey is described as the stranding of a large ship, then he will set sail again in his thirties to explore more possibilities and meanings:

"Actually, for me, the achievements and honors of my entire athletic career are really glorious enough. Now it's more about wishing I could be brave enough to stand on the starting platform. ”

After going through the darkest moment, I wish Sun Yang good luck all the way.

Disappeared from the field for a few years

For a professional athlete, if he fails to perform on the field, he is quickly forgotten.

Not to mention being banned for 4 years and 3 months, which is a bit longer than an entire Olympic cycle. Without competition, there will be no results, and without results, there will be no exposure. The previous glory and records have quickly become a thing of the past, and in this era when memories are rapidly forgotten, there are not many traces left.

Obviously, Sun Yang is an exception.

When the news of his return came out today, all kinds of remarks about him came again. Although he has faded out of people's field of vision in recent years, once he comes back, he is still the most top-notch existence.

Looking back on the past few years, although he missed the Tokyo Olympics and the Hangzhou Asian Games due to the ban, the first brother of Chinese swimming has had a particularly fulfilling life.

If in the previous 30 years of his life, he only had training and swimming in his mind, and he felt that those were the only ones. After this incident, he realized that swimming is not the only thing in life, and it is not the only thing in life.

According to him, he was like an "amphibian" who swam in the water for 30 years and then came back to land.

As a result, he failed to chop the waves on the field, but he completed another kind of growth - outside the pool, he did live broadcasts and shared good quality of life and good things with everyone; He improved himself, studied for a doctorate at the Shanghai Sports Institute, and studied finance at Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business; He also got married and found his "ideal" Zhang Doudou.

This world champion, Olympic champion, Grand Slam, in the past few years away from the field, I have found some of my own interests, explored some career plans, improved my education, and found the other half of my life. From these perspectives, Sun Yang did not stop and arranged himself to the full.

Of course, he hasn't forgotten his most important identity – he is a swimmer.

The heavens will descend on the Si people

On the night when the dust settled on the ban result, Sun Yang was very calm.

In fact, for him, he can choose to retreat from the rapids. If he chooses to stop at this time, it will also be a Grand Slam and the most glorious moment - even if the ban is a bit controversial, but after all, the previous record and championship are real.

As a bystander, you can doubt Sun Yang's slightly immature handling of this matter, and you can discuss Sun Yang's inherent character weaknesses, but you have to deny that he who has had countless arguments is indeed an out-and-out swimming genius.

But Sun Yang didn't have the idea of giving up at all.

"I said I must persevere, I said that I still have hope, although this result is not good for me, but I feel that God still left me hope."

So, he still has the same two points and one line as before, from the training ground to his home, a class swims for two hours to two and a half hours, 7,000 meters to 8,000 meters, and the two classes plus treatment basically occupy most of the day. From Sun Yang's social platforms in recent years, you can also vaguely see his attitude - he has never given up swimming.

"Swimming is an integral part of my life, and I will always love it."

"Don't give up easily, do your best work."

Coincidentally, during the ban period (September 22), Sun Yang also received a certificate to break the world record in the 1500m freestyle (14:31.02) at the 2012 London Olympics.

From breaking the record to getting the certificate, there was a full 10-year gap between it. It seemed to tell him that as long as he persevered, what should come will always come—although, the process may be long, and the wait will be lonely.

Just like swimming, a person in the water, swimming countless back and forth, can only hear the sound of his own heartbeat and swinging arms to pull the water, and then he has to endure in repetitive movements and infinite loops. But water is good for all things, and his persistence and endurance in the water made him slowly relieved and gained another understanding.

Perhaps, there is no absolute fairness in the world, and God is destined to let him go through this catastrophe.

So, looking back, Sun Yang said these words: The sky will descend on the people.

Keep the clouds open and see the moon

Someone once asked Sun Yang, do you know how many gold medals you have won in total?

Sun Yang didn't remember. In his eyes, it is good to be able to continue to win gold medals to expand his honor, but it is not a measure of success. In his eyes, there is one thing that is obviously more important than winning the gold medal - "I don't need to prove myself with the gold medal anymore, and more importantly, I have the opportunity to let everyone see the new Sun Yang to conquer this arena." ”

Yes, he has been holding on to this day of return. He didn't indulge himself because no one supervised him or took care of him, but he was alone and guarded the pool, the track, and the dream in his heart.

Some even think he's crazy - for so long, don't you go and change the track? Are you insane?

But only he knows what he wants most, he doesn't want to give up so easily, even if he is already a veteran in his thirties, he still wants to continue swimming.

"For example, Federer, Nadal and Djokovic are also players that I like very much, including the NBA James is also very old, and he can always stick to the court. As a junior, they can all do it, why can't I? ”

So, for 4 years and 3 months, he waited for this day. After this day, his persistence finally had meaning.

Of course, Sun Yang may not have met everyone in the pool so soon. For Sun Yang, although there are still 2 months left in the Paris Olympics, the Paris Olympics trials have ended, and according to the rules, it is no longer possible for Sun Yang to appear in Paris (unless the Chinese Swimming Association can give the green light, but it is almost impossible). Therefore, he may appear at the National Summer Swimming Championships at the end of August this year. However, next year's Greater Bay Area National Games and the 26th Nagoya Asian Games are very promising for him.

I don't know, tonight, what kind of mood Sun Yang will be in to savor his difficult journey, only he knows the pain. But for the onlooker, it must be a wonderful story.

After this day, people will still remember the crying, emotional big boy, and they will also know that there is a man who, after chewing the blows and setbacks of the ban, still chooses not to give in and fight against fate tenaciously. The big boy who loves to cry may have shed a lot of tears over the years, but he must have grown a lot. This is the inevitable process that a boy must go through to become a man, and it is also the torment that an excellent athlete has to overcome to become a great athlete.

After all, only by surpassing oneself can one be "fearless as a swimmer".

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