Chinese public shattered after ’King of distance’ Sun Yang fails to qualify for 1500m final
China’s Olympic hero Sun Yang dived into the water for the heat of the 1500m freestyle as world record holder and defending champion, he left the pool as a failed qualifier.
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WHEN Sun Yang catches a cold, a billion people sneeze.
China’s Olympic hero dived into the water for the heat of the 1500m freestyle final as world record holder and defending champion.
Just over 15 minutes later he climbed out as just another failed qualifier.
Sun will be the first 1500m Olympic champion not to defend his title since Vladimir Salnikov was robbed of the chance when the USSR boycotted the LA Games in 1984. He made up for it by winning for a second time at Seoul in 1988.
For his major rivals Mack Horton and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, Sun’s absence from Sunday morning’s final is an unexpected bonus. For his many supporters in China, it is a disaster.
Think the Australian media and supporters were stunned when Cate Campbell finished out of the medals in the women’s 100m final?
It was nothing on how the Chinese reacted to Sun Yang’s relegation.
There were more reporters waiting to speak to Yang after his losing swim than there were to interview Michael Phelps after his 23rd gold medal.
“This is very bad,” a journalist from a major Chinese newspaper said. “Sun Yang is a very big man in China. The people like him very much.”
Unlike Campbell, who shook her head and walked straight past waiting Australian media following her 50m freestyle heat swim earlier in the session, Sun stopped and spoke at length to the Chinese reporters and offered an explanation for his surprising performance.
“He had a fever,” the reporter explained. “He caught a cold after the 200m. Last night he couldn’t sleep. He felt very bad. He swam his best but he couldn’t go fast.”
Sun’s time of 15:01.97 was over six seconds slower than the slowest qualifier, Henrik Christiansen of Norway, and almost half a minute behind his world record of 14:31.02. It was also more than thirteen seconds slower than Horton, who swam 14:48.47.
So, after two Olympics, four gold medals and being at the eye of a storm after Horton labelled him a “drug cheat” on the first day of the Games, will this be the last we see of Sun Yang?
“Oh no. He will come back. He says he has much respect for Michael Phelps. He wants to be like him.
Only another 20 golds to go, give or take.
Originally published as Chinese public shattered after ’King of distance’ Sun Yang fails to qualify for 1500m final
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