Sideline Story

How did Sun Yang look in his first race back?

Chinese three-time Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang has returned to competition after over four years of suspension due to an anti-doping rule violation. What level is he at having missed swimming action for this long? What does the future hold for him? Also in this episode, we look back at those athletes making memorable sports comebacks in their careers.

Duration:: 25m
Broadcast on:: 30 Aug 2024
Audio Format:: mp3

(upbeat music) - Hello, and welcome to a signed live story, your destination for sports news, analysis and discussions. I'm Yang Guang. Today, we're going to take a look at Chinese Olympic swimming champion, Swin Yang's return to the pool. How did he do in his comeback? What does the future hold for him? To uncover this topic, I'm joined here by my co-hosts Fuyu and Branding Gates via video. All right, China's three-time Olympic champion, Swin Yang, participated in an official competition for the first time in over four years, after his 51-month suspension ended in May this year, at the National Summer Swimming Championships in her very last weekend. Swin won the men's 400-meter freestyle in three minutes, 49.58 seconds. - He really gets down to the specific numbers. - Of course, it's far from his personal best time, but to top the podium in his first competition back is still marvelous and inspiring. After the race, Swin Yang broke down in tears and said it felt like that he was finally able to crawl out of darkness. Fuyu, what do you make of this comeback? Four years of suspension, no competition on whatever level, yet he still was able to best other competitors at age of 32. What does this say to you? - Well, first of all, apart from not being able to compete, he didn't even have access to the top training facilities. So it's, like you said, it's marvelous to see such a stellar return of a swimmer on such a magnitude. And of course, it's always nice to see the return of such a good swimmer. Despite his lengthy ban, Swin Yang's still one of the best swimmers in the world, or at least he was before his ban. So exciting to see he's still active in the pool. He's still kept up training. Like you said, during the four years, a lot of things happened. He got married and he said that it's the support from his family that got him this far. That's why he shed a few tears after the competition. And here we're talking about why Swin Yang's return, it's such big news because he was so good. Some of the figures that we can share here is that Swin Yang is the first swimmer in the world to win gold medals in men's 200 meter, 400 meter and 1500 meter freestyle at the Olympic Games. And even China's new Olympic champion, Panjan Lua looked up to him as a child. So he's like the idol for a lot of the young and upcoming swimmers. And at this year's national summer championships, he still got the legs to beat the swimmers that some of them are even half of his age for 10 years younger than him. So it's exciting to see the return of Swin Yang in the pool. Although he is still competing at the national level, I believe it's a positive development for the sport and also a strong signal for the young swimmers who have still to prove themselves. Yeah, Swin Yang, a household name here in China, he became the country's first ever Olympic champion in men's swimming at London 2012. When he claimed the top honors in men's 400 meter and 1500 meter freestyle events. He's good at long distances. Yeah, that was a big, big breakthrough in Chinese swimming. And four years later at Real 2016, he won another Olympic gold medal by winning the men's 200 meter freestyle event. But in 2021, as we all know, the courts of arbitration for sports gave Swin Yang a four year three month suspension saying he committed anti-doping rule violations when there was an unsuccessful attempt to collect his glaude and urine samples from him. But Swin claimed he refused to deliver the sample because the sample taking staff didn't show convincing license to prove they were qualified workers. Anyway, what happened, happened. Now, Swin Yang is clear to compete again and he impressed everyone in his first competition back. Brandon, four years of suspension without competitions, Swin Yang said he never stopped training individually over the course. I assume it's very difficult to, you know, keep that intensity over the years to match the competitive these real games, real matches. What do you think? I mean, just keeping that intensity and that motivation on an individual level is huge testament to the character that he has. Of course, Swin Yang is an icon in China and an icon in the swimming world. He's going to go down as potentially one of the greatest freestyle swimmers of all time and probably one of the greatest swimming Olympians of all time. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him mentally for the last four years to not be able to compete and to try and find that motivation to try and stay at the highest level to be ready to compete when his band was over. And he's gone through so much mentally. I mean, of course, the band was highly, highly controversial and very, very questionable. So he must have felt very hard done by the decision. So I'm sure he was dealing with a lot of mental angst but also probably a lot of anger and frustration too because that seemed like a very harsh ban for the circumstances. And he also must have gone through incredible mental toil thinking, can I stay at the highest level? Will I be able to compete again? You know, can I provide for my family? What will I do if I'm not able to return to the highest level? So away from the physical side of things, I think the mental struggles that he must have gone through during this period were extremely difficult. And I think that probably showed in his emotional reaction to winning that 400 meter race. But I think it's hugely significant to have this icon of China and icon of world swimming back. And the fact that he was able to deliver such a great result, I think is a great start to his return. And I think, you know, it's very significant for Chinese swimming as a whole. And I think that it really is a great example that he was able to maintain that motivation, maintain that determination to stay at his best as best as he possibly could during this four year period. Where, like you said, he didn't have access to competition. He didn't have access to world class training facilities. Now that he will have access to that, it remains to be seen what level he can reach. But it is definitely great to have him back. And I'm hoping that mentally he has, you know, like he said, come out of the darkness, returned to the light, and hopefully he's also in a really great mental state now after this four year period, which must have been incredibly, incredibly difficult for himself, for his family, and of course, all of his fans. - Yeah, I believe he is in a good mental state because he only said that he's looking ahead. And he said that he will be competing at the national games to be held in China's greater Bay Area next year. So he's not looking back at his period of darkness. And it's important for him because when he's been ended in May, he very well knew that he would miss the Olympic Games. But it still didn't keep him away from the pool and still motivated him to train for the national level competitions. And for you, I think you make a very good point there. I think the fact that he isn't looking back, I think that's going to be very important for him. And that's something we also discussed, remember with Zhang Chen-Wim, when she suffered that horrific first round Exited Wimbledon Yang Guang, you said that she needs to remove this formula memory, not look back and focus on the future. And then of course, she went on to win the Olympic gold in Paris in 2024. So I think that it looks like Sun Yang is going to maintain that mentality of, you know, getting over the disappointment of missing the Olympics, you know, missing the last four years of competition and just focusing on the future. And I think that's going to be very, very important for his future in the sport and to see if he's able to return to the highest level that he possibly can. - I just can't imagine how Sun Yang went through that period after he knew he would be banned for four years and three months. Because for the first year, I can imagine, okay, the motivation is there. I can keep training, keep in doing what I have been doing over the years, but like the second year, third year, without any competition. - After a while, you just feel like there's no end, no line, I think, not the tunnel. - There's also no matches for him to test what he has been training for at the level. So I guess it's extremely hard for athletes to go through such a period. I mean, he could have abandoned swimming as a whole and become a star in some entertainment industries in China because he's very famous here. But he insisted on the career of being a swimmer four years and three months later, he proved he's still one of the best in this country. - He's still got it. - Yeah, Yang Guang, I think one benefit of being a swimmer is that, you know, in terms of like team sports, like making a comeback in football or rugby or basketball, not having access to competition or teams to play against, that's probably a lot more difficult because that's kind of a body-to-body contact sport. But with swimming, at least you have the clock, you know, you will have access to a pool. So one thing you can do is you can kind of keep an eye on your competition, even though you're not able to compete against them, you can kind of see what times athletes around the world are listening. So you can kind of be aware of what level you need to maintain on an individual level. So I guess it comes down to self-motivation and being able to get out into the pool, get out into the gym every single week, every single month, and still try and maintain some sort of positive attitude while you're missing out on all of these competitions that you so desperately want to compete in and where you've had success in the past. So I think, well, we have to hope that over the last four years, like we've said, that he's kept the motivation and the determination and that he's been keeping an eye on his competition and hopefully he's been able to get him to the pool, look at the clocks and maintain some of those times that some of his greatest competitors have been able to achieve in terms of the times that they clocked in the pool. - Yeah, I guess it could be attributed to his strong mental fortitude over the course of over four years. I actually watched that event in Herve, I watched that 400 meter freestyle race, and I was quite nervous for Sun Yang. To be honest, I'm not a big, big Sun Yang fan, but to see him in return to the competition after endearing so much adversity in his career, that was part of me really hoping to see him win that race. And to recap that race, Sun Yang was not going full power in the very beginning, only after the halfway point that he started to speed up and became the front runner until the end. It's not a typical dominant race we used to see from Sun Yang. I guess it's a game strategy because-- - Preserve energy and even going into the final, he wasn't the fastest. - Yeah, he probably didn't know what would happen in the race in his first race coming back. I guess it's like I need to follow them first and see if I can keep the pace and shrink that distance. And then in the later stage of the race, if there's a chance, maybe I can make an overtaking attempt. But I think it's a rather conservative, careful, and even unconfident game strategy. But Sun Yang has been away from the competitions for so long. He must have had no idea what the race would go. People made the calculations after the race. Three minutes, 49.58 seconds, it's not a bad time. But it's not a good time either because-- - Especially for Sun Yang. - Yeah, there's some distance from the winning time of the same event at Paris 2024, which was almost eight seconds faster than this. And the gap is even bigger when it's compared with the Sun Yang's Olympic record, created 12 years ago in rail, which was over nine seconds faster than his recent mark. So there's a long way to go for Sun Yang before he can fully return to his peak time if that would ever happen. To me, I think Sun Yang would definitely improve on this mark in the future events in China. Just take it slow, but the real question is, can we see Sun Yang go back to his best time as a swimmer? Because he's already 32 years out, Brendan. - Look, it's very difficult to say. I think the age factor and four years away from the competitions is probably going to be incredibly difficult for him. I think that getting back to peak level that we saw in 2012 at the age of 32 is going to be near impossible. I agree with you, Yang Guang. I think we are going to see major improvements from Sun Yang over the next year or two. And I think we will be able to see him compete at the highest level again very, very soon. But a highly dark, we will see him get to the levels that we were used to seeing from him, for example, in London in 2012. So I think his comeback was strong. And I think that he posted a very good time. But like you said, Yang Guang, he was a little bit conservative and maybe a little bit lacking a bit of confidence. But I do think it was a very positive, strong return. And I think he will gain confidence from that victory. And I think it's going to be, it's yet to be determined. I think that it's very early days. But I think the odds are stacked against him in terms of age and time away from the competition. But I think the fact that he was able to return after a four-year ban and win a competition shows that he does have great mental fortitude. Whatever results he is able to achieve will be down to him. And I think that he can get to the best that he can get to at this point in his career. But a highly dark, we will see peak Sun Yang again, purely because of the age factor and the time away from competition. Yeah. Hopefully, we can see not fully recovery from Sun Yang to his best level, but at least he would be doing his best in domestic tournaments. But speaking of Sun Yang's comeback from suspension, it reminds me of so many athletes making successful or unsuccessful comebacks in their sports, in their careers. On top of my head, Michael Jordan's comeback to the NBA after his brief stint in baseball was just a classic and a dramatic. It seemed like a very seamless comeback. There was no transition, like he never left the court. And in recent years, I think there have been some comebacks from women's tennis. Like Kim Kleister's coming out of retirement to play in the WTA tour is very encouraging. And Naomi Osaka returned to the court after giving birth to her first child. Brandon, what stories come to you first when we talk about, you know, comebacks in sports? Yeah, yeah, there's so many rights. I mean, of course, the Michael Jordan won definitely sticks out. And like you said, Yang Guangd was seamless. And I just, I think that's a great display of why he's the goat, because I think he's the type of guy that could dominate the NBA in his sleep, or if he's been away for several years. So, you know, he was just born to play basketball and born to dominate the sport. And that comeback was a very, very good example of that. I also think the return of Tiger Woods to win the Masters in 2019 was absolutely incredible because, I mean, he had gone through so much. I mean, all of his indiscretions were made public and he had gone through so many injuries. And of course, he was also, you know, aging in terms of his career. After that car accident. Yeah, yeah, he went through so much, both mentally, physically. I mean, he went through everything that an athlete could potentially go through. And the fact that he was able to return and win a major at his age and having gone through everything that he went through was pretty remarkable. And I think that was a huge moment in that sport. And also just, for me, underlined why he's also one of the greatest of all time in that sport. But in South African sports, I mean, of course, you know, rugby is an obsession in South Africa. And we've had so many comeback stories. And one that really sticks out to me was the defending rugby World Cup captain, Sia Khaleesi. In the year of the 2023 rugby World Cup, he tore his ACL that year. And the night before that he was due to have surgery that would have actually ruled him out of the World Cup, he decided to visit the doctor that treated his teammate at the 2019 rugby World Cup, who's Peter Steph DeToy. And that year Peter Steph DeToy won the rugby World Cup with South Africa and Sia Khaleesi and was also named rugby player of the year. That surgeon was able to cut down the recovery time for Sia Khaleesi. And he was able to return just before the World Cup started, but not having played at the highest level for several months. And he went on to captain South Africa to another rugby World Cup victory in 2023. And that was probably the greatest comeback in South African sport that we've ever seen. So to see such an inspirational leader come back the year of a rugby World Cup and to be able to captain that side to another rugby World Cup victory, that's something that I will remember for the rest of my life. Khaleesi, what a name. I mean, the House of Dragon must be proud of her. (both laughing) Absolutely. He would dominate the House of Dragons. He would be the leader, for sure. Yeah, fully any flashbacks from your side. Classic comeback in sports. Yeah, this one I'm going to mention is not only classic, but in my opinion, it's the biggest comeback. And that's Christian Erickson. After he's scared at Euro 2020, where he collapsed, he had a cardiac arrest and had to later had a pacemaker implanted into his heart. What the sky was saying? Yeah, yeah. And I didn't know, I didn't think he would be able to play football ever again. But not only did he picked up playing football, he also scored the opening goal for Denmark at the 2024 tournament. So he came back to the tournament where he almost died and opened that way, the goal. And to me, this goal is more symbolic than practical. But of course, that goal was crucial in Denmark's 1-0 draw against Slovenia. But to think that a professional football player who nearly died on the pitch, scored that goal is just so all inspiring. It's like a movie plot, yeah. Yeah, at least I haven't heard-- It's iconic. It's something that will stick out to the minds of football fans for so many years. It's going to be one of those iconic images that we look back on for so long. Yeah, and I think a lot of people may have missed this point that he almost died at Euro 2020, but scored the first goal for his country in the following tournament. And another example for me is Lance Armstrong. He's returned to the Tour de France, not once but twice. The first time that he came back from cancer, he won seven consecutive titles. Of course, although later, he admitted that he doped during all those years, which in my opinion is one of the biggest lies. Not one of his the biggest lie in the sporting world, but still, despite his doping scandal, he always makes the headlines because it's such a towering figure. And it's always nice to see a dominating leader of a sport becoming part of this sport again. And here, of course, after his brief retirement, he also came back in 2009 and 2010. He didn't end up winning the Tour de France in those two editions, but still was one of the focus of the entire spelotone. Yeah, he has always been a focus. So focus was the Tour de France, and he was determined to win it again and again. It's like how Nadal is linked to the French Open. Something else to bear in mind with the Tour de France and Lance, Armstrong, you know, of course, with all of the doping allegations and everything aside. And yes, there was that element, but to be fair, I think all of the other top guys also tested positive. So, you know, I mean, it was just a big mess at that time. It still is. Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly. So, but I mean, away from that, he also became an icon of the sport, but he also raised over 500 million US dollars for cancer research. And, you know, for someone like me, you know, who has had family members that have dealt with cancer or passed away from cancer and have beaten cancer, someone like Lance Armstrong is very, very important because the fact that he's done so much in cancer awareness and cancer research, that's going to have long lasting impacts on potentially finding a cure for that disease for some time to come. So away from the sport, he's done a lot to help humanity as well. Yeah, that's why, to me, he's more of a cancer survivor and philanthropist than a cyclist. Yeah, so there are some good reasons and bad reasons behind Lance Armstrong's comeback to cycling. But let's go back to Zwing Yang. I mean, Chinese swimming has gained a lot of momentum since Zwing Yang's success in London. Yes, it was after Zwing Yang that the world began to see Chinese swimming as a contender for all the major titles. Yeah, they emerged a batch of top athletes from China in the swimming pool. Like these days, Zhang Yufei, Panjian Le, Wang Xu, and they are all in the headlines, especially Panjian Le. Interestingly, in his childhood, Panjian actually saw Zwing Yang as his idol as it, like you said, and he said his target is to swim faster than Zwing Yang. In that interview, I believe Pan was 10 years old and he said that I only have to be faster than Zwing Yang. Looking back, Zwing Yang has inspired a whole generation of Chinese swimmers. Now he's returned from suspension. For you, what do you think that means to young Chinese swimmers today? First of all, that means a lot of pressure for them because at the national level competitions, most of the competitors we see are young and upcoming swimmers who have yet to prove themselves. So if they want to do that, they first have to be faster than Zwing Yang who's passed his prime who's 32 years old. And if they can't beat him, it means they are not good enough. So that'll be very exciting for them. Yeah, the legend is in the swimming pool. Let's compete against him. Let's try to beat him. All right, I guess Zwing Yang's comeback impressed a lot of fans and inspired a lot of Chinese swimmers. Let's see how things will go for him in the future. But with that, we end this episode of Sideline Story. Thank you so much for joining us. For more information, you can also check our website, radio.cgtn.com. See you next week. (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)