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According to China Blue News, in the men's 400m freestyle preliminaries of the 2024 National Summer Swimming Championships held this morning, Sun Yang from Zhejiang appeared in the 11th group and ranked first in the group with 3:54.98.

According to Beautiful Zhejiang, Sun Yang, who was banned for four years, made a comeback and competed in the men's 400m freestyle event of the 2024 National Summer Swimming Championships in Hefei today, with a time of 3 minutes and 45 seconds. It is understood that the Zhejiang Swimming Team has sent a total of 59 athletes, the youngest of whom is only 13 years old. Sun Yang, born in 1991, is the oldest at 33 years old, 20 years younger than the youngest player.

On July 20, 2023, Sun Yang officially announced his marriage. His wife is gymnast Zhang Doudou, and the two have created a "golden boy and jade girl" story in the Chinese sports world.

Sun Yang holds hands with a newcomer, and everything seems to have gone with the wind.

During the days when he could not compete, he returned to Shanghai Institute of Physical Education to pursue a doctorate.

Once the world champion of men's freestyle swimming

Sun Yang, the world champion of men's freestyle swimming, almost single-handedly made Chinese swimming have a place in the world swimming arena.

Before Sun Yang, the highest podium in the world swimming world belonged to European and American athletes. Phelps, Lochte, Peirsol...almost monopolized the gold medals in the Olympic Games and World Championships swimming events.

In 2011, Sun Yang emerged out of nowhere.

At the Shanghai World Swimming Championships that year, Sun Yang won his first World Championship gold medal in the men's 800m freestyle with a time of 7:38.57. In the men's 1500m freestyle, he won the championship with a time of 14:34.14, breaking the world record that had been unbroken for ten years and the only record that had not been broken in the fast swimsuit era. He became the first Chinese athlete to win a championship in an Olympic event at the World Championships, and also the first Chinese male swimmer to win two championships at the World Championships.

In the world swimming arena full of top swimmers, Sun Yang has made a name for Chinese swimming in the freestyle, which is equivalent to the 100-meter track and field race.

In the London Olympics, he won the men's 400m freestyle final with a time of 3 minutes 40.14 seconds, breaking the Olympic record in the event and becoming China's first men's swimming Olympic champion. In addition to the men's 200m freestyle silver medal, 4x200m freestyle relay bronze medal, and 1500m freestyle gold medal, Sun Yang won 2 golds, 1 silver, and 1 bronze in the London Olympics.

Before being banned from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, Sun Yang had won a total of 14 gold medals in world competitions.

Achievements and controversies go hand in hand, banned for more than 4 years

Along with his numerous honors, Sun Yang has also been surrounded by constant controversy. From the incident of driving without a license to rumors of a secret marriage and having children, to the controversy surrounding his suspension, it can be said that the greater Sun Yang's achievements, the greater the controversy.

At the end of 2013, Sun Yang, who had just shined at the World Swimming Championships and the London Olympics, was detained for seven days for driving without a license after scraping a bus while driving his Porsche Cayenne at the intersection of Hangzhou Stadium. Although a gold medal winner, the Chinese swimming team did not protect Sun Yang, but temporarily disqualified him from the national team until he returned to training in March of the following year.

The bigger controversy came from a doping test in 2018, which caused Sun Yang to bid farewell to the arena until his return today.

In September of that year, Sun Yang was not able to complete an out-of-competition doping test because he had doubts about the qualifications of the inspector. Sun Yang tore up the doping test form during the test, and the security guard smashed the test bottle with a hammer. According to the report of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, Sun Yang was violently resisting the test, which became the key to his long-term suspension.

From 2018 to June 2021, Sun Yang's ban was reduced from 8 years to 4 years and 3 months after rulings by FINA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Court of Arbitration for Sport and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

Due to this suspension, Sun Yang missed the Hangzhou Asian Games held in his hometown, as well as the Tokyo Olympics and the Paris Olympics.

Live streaming sales during the ban period became a hot topic

On January 14, 2022, the topic of "Sun Yang live streaming and selling goods" became a hot search on Weibo, sparking heated discussions among many netizens. On that day, Sun Yang live streamed goods on the social platform. As of 14:30 that afternoon, within nearly 3.5 hours of live streaming, he received 2.618 million likes, and once topped the list of selling goods.

During the live broadcast, Sun Yang ultimately achieved sales of nearly 12 million.

Sun Yang is also very good at livening up the atmosphere during live broadcasts: he can come up with metaphors such as "make your cheeks as elastic and firm as buns" and "your complexion is like a rose" and he has won the hearts of female fans.

During the entire live broadcast, Sun Yang was the only one commentating, but he was very familiar with these "live broadcast routines" such as bargaining with merchants, posting links, and giving benefits within a limited time.

Of course, controversy still lingers. In a live broadcast, Sun Yang held up different pieces of white paper with the following words written on them: "Take off your sunglasses when the number of people reaches 30,000, smile when the number of people reaches 50,000, and speak only when the number of people reaches 100,000."

Those who don't understand think that the former Olympic champion shouldn't use such a bizarre way to gain traffic. Those who understand say that this is just a way for him to make a living during the suspension and there is no need to over-interpret it.

In response, Sun Yang said: "I don't do live streaming to make money, it's all just for fun."

The impact of a four-year ban on a top athlete can be imagined. During the ban, Sun Yang still maintained his exercise, swimming 5,000 meters every day and going to the gym three to four times a week.

But it is undeniable that compared with the past, the intensity of such training is not that great. Moreover, during this period, he also needs to create some new sources of income.

Now that he has returned to the competition, can he persist until the 2028 Olympics? He said: "Let nature take its course. If there is an opportunity, I will go all out. If not, I will let it go."

Jimu News integrates China Blue News, Beautiful Zhejiang, Modern Express, Guangming Online, People's Daily, China News Service, and The Paper's most popular figures