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Jimu News reporter Liu Junhua

Correspondents Shi Gang and Yao Jinling

"At that time, I sent Junjun to learn swimming, on the one hand, to get him to eat more through exercise, and on the other hand, to learn self-rescue skills. I didn't expect that I would practice it until now." On August 5, when talking about Sun Jiajun's relationship with swimming, grandmother Dai Renmei's eyes were full of memories.

In the men's 4x100m medley relay final of the Paris Olympics, Yichang athlete Sun Jiajun and his teammates won the championship.

Champion Chinese team players Xu Jiayu (top right), Qin Haiyang (top left), Sun Jiajun (top center), and Pan Zhanle celebrate after the game

Sun Jiajun has been lively and cute since he was young, and his family members call him "Junjun". When he was 6 years old, Dai Renmei sent him to a summer camp to learn swimming. Later, he signed up for a summer swimming training class at the Youth Palace of the city, and was later selected to enter the Yichang Sports School for systematic training with coaches He Deqiang and Cao Jing.

While many children of the same age could not stand the hard training and frequently asked for leave to rest, the little Sun Jiajun never complained about the hardship or tiredness. With the careful training of the coach and his own hard work, he made rapid progress. In 2009, Sun Jiajun was sent to Wuhan Chongren Central Children's Sports School for professional training.

"At that time, he was very conflicted about whether to go to Wuhan or not. Later, his aunt told him that he could become an Olympic champion by practicing sports. This planted a seed in his heart, and he decided to give it a try." Because his parents were working in Yi, his grandmother accompanied him to Wuhan alone to practice swimming.

Dai Renmei said that after practicing for a while, Junjun was very confused. After all, if he couldn't get good results in swimming, his studies would waste time. He wanted to give up. "I kept encouraging him to choose what he likes to do and stick to his dream. In the end, he chose to continue swimming."

In 2013, Sun Jiajun was selected to join the Hubei Provincial Swimming Team and trained under coach Zheng Shan. His senior brother Yan Zibei trained with him and he made rapid progress because he was very sensible and hardworking. In Zheng Shan's eyes, Sun Jiajun's greatest characteristic is his passion for swimming and life. Once a goal is set, he will work hard wholeheartedly.

Behind every breakthrough and every medal is sweat and persistence. In 2018, Sun Jiajun participated in the Buenos Aires Youth Olympic Games. Sports injuries in both knees had begun to show. He won two gold medals despite the pain. Afterwards, he trained while receiving treatment. That year, he joined the national team.

The following year, after winning five gold medals and one silver medal at the 2nd National Youth Games, he had surgery in Beijing due to severe pain in both knees. The doctor told Sun Jiajun that it would be best not to go into the water again, but after less than two weeks of rest after the surgery, he gritted his teeth and returned to the swimming pool. Since he couldn't practice breaststroke much, he switched to butterfly stroke. His parents and coach saw his gritted teeth and persistence, and it hurt their hearts.

"It was really difficult at that time. What kept me going was the encouragement from the people around me. My mother who took care of me day and night, my coach who brought me meals every day, and my senior brother Yan Zibei who came to the hospital to encourage me, they gave me the strength to move forward." Sun Jiajun said.

In the men's 100m butterfly semi-finals at the Tokyo Olympics, Sun Jiajun finished seventh. After the game, Sun Jiajun said: "Although I didn't win a medal in this competition, I feel a little disappointed, but I won't be discouraged. What I want to do most is to continue to step up my training and prepare for new competitions."

Sun Jiajun never gets arrogant after winning, never gets discouraged after losing, never gets dragged down, never gets beaten, faces failure head-on, trains hard, and constantly breaks through himself. In September of that year, he won the gold medal in the men's 4×100m medley relay at the 14th Shaanxi National Games.

It is precisely with this persistence that Sun Jiajun has achieved numerous outstanding results and shined in the national and international swimming circles in recent years: he won two gold medals in a row and broke the Asian record at the 2023 National Swimming Championships, won the men's 50m breaststroke bronze medal at the FINA Fukuoka World Championships, and won the men's 4X100m medley relay championship and the men's 50m breaststroke runner-up at the Hangzhou Asian Games, and won the 100m butterfly championship at the 2023 National Swimming Championships.

In late April 2024, at the National Swimming Championships and Paris Olympic Trials, Sun Jiajun set a new personal best in the 100m breaststroke final, winning the silver medal with a time of 58.73 seconds; in the 100m butterfly final, he won the silver medal with a time of 51.54 seconds.

At the Paris Olympics, Sun Jiajun participated in the men's breaststroke and butterfly stroke competitions, but unfortunately failed to enter the semi-finals. However, his family believes that as long as Sun Jiajun performs steadily, he will be able to prove himself.

On August 5, Beijing time, in the men's 4×100m medley relay final, Sun Jiajun, who was appointed to the position in an emergency, lived up to his mission and performed beyond his level, closely following the US and French teams and maintaining his third position. It was thanks to the close cooperation of his teammates that he staged a wonderful reversal.

After winning the championship, Sun Jiajun wrote on his Weibo, "The end may not be success, but the process must be hard work."

He has persisted for more than ten years, "swimming" from Yichang to Wuhan, from Wuhan to Beijing, and then from Beijing to the world's highest podium, and now he is inspiring more people.

(Source: Jimu News)

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