At the time Chinese Olympic icon Sun Yang reunited with his past mentor Zhu Zhigen back in April of this year, his coach made it clear that his 26-year-old athlete would keep the 1500m free in his repertoire of events. “The 1,500 meters freestyle is a basic event for him,” Zhu said this past spring. “If he gives up this one and he will lose the rest of (the) events.”
Several months later, however, the pair is changing its tune, with Zhu now indicating that taking on the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m individual free events, in addition to relays, may be too much to ask of Sun in light of his age and recurring back injury.
“Sun Yang won the 1,500m at the Asian Games [in Jakarta] so it gave him a lot of confidence,” Zhu told The South China Morning Post this week. “But the Tokyo Olympics are two years later and in order to achieve the grand slam by winning the 800 metres, he may have to give up the 1,500m.
“To swim the 800m, it is necessary to use the energy reserves built up for the 1,500m.”
Sun took double gold at the 2012 Olympics in London, winning the 400m, and 1500m freestyle events while nabbing silver in the 200m. That was followed by a shock no-show in the 1500m final at the 2017 FINA World Championships in Kazan due to heart trouble. In Rio, Sun settled for silver the 400m, won the 200m, but completely missed the 1500m Olympic final.
The 1500m was back on the table recently at the 2018 Asian Games, where Sun swept gold across the 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m distances. He also clinched silver as a member of the 4 x 100m freestyle relay and bronze on the 4 x 200m freestyle relay.
The Chinese dynamo isn’t the only one to reconsider the grueling freestyle ladder for the next Olympics. We also reported last April how Sun’s Australian freestyle rival Mack Horton is seriously considering dumping the 1500 in favor of the newly-added 800m free Olympic event.
“I think you know what’s happening to the 1500,” Horton told The Sydney Morning Herald in April this year after the Gold Coast-hosted Commonwealth Games. “I don’t know if it’s my last one but it’s on its way out. With the 800m being added into the Olympic program I was either going to have to go 200-400-800 or 400-800-1500.”
When your doping regimen has been curtailed, and you’re unable to do the work to compete fairly, cutting endurance races is a logical step. (Holds true for doper/quitter Ning Zetao, as well as Yang).
But most racing the 800 will probably race the 1500, might as well swim the 1500 as everyone else will be tired too.
The relationship hasn’t worked since 2013.
I would like to see him drop this. I want to see him drop a big time in the 200 free – we are all waiting for somebody (Haas, Guy, King Kyle??) to do something big in the 200 free
All i want to know is when is his next UFC match in the warm down pool
I’m afraid the 1500m field would be depleted when people have to decide which event to drop..
Might have been better and more exciting for the spectators if they have added more relay events such as the mixed freestyle relays instead of long distance events which could be boring to watch for general fans and gruelling for swimmers as well
Also, the 800 is just pretty darn similar to the 1500. People win the 200 and 400 about as much as they win the 1500 and the 400, yet no one’s calling for the 300 to be an event.
Isn’t the 1,500 the last day? I could see it if he was doing it on the Wednesay, as no amount of ice baths gets round that it’s 3k of racing, but surely worth a shot for the last hurrah?
Though I get that, unlike Ledecky, he won’t be able to break out a lead in the 800 and 1,500 then come off the gas a bit and hold the field at arm’s length (though whether she could bring herself to do that, who knows, girl loves to race hard).
Chop the 1500, why would he swim that when he’s the best 200free swimmer in world.
200/400 free. One last hurrah and try break 3.40.
800 free …. again at what cost to the 200speed when’s he’s 28/29.
800 free if he wins, then 4 different individual events and first man to win it is appealing.
Personally, I think if he’s doing the work necessary to excel at the 400, he won’t really need to do too much special training to have a shot at the 800 so I doubt his 200 would be impacted. He’s good enough that he can just focus on the 200 and 400 and still be a major threat in the 800. Either way, he’s gonna be cranking out a ton of meters so he’ll have the fitness to be competitive. He might as well swim it IMO.
Evidence that the 800 is kind of a BS event – if you train for a 400, you can mail in the 800.
I don’t think just anyone can, but Sun Yang totally can. He’s one of the rangiest freestylers we’ve seen in a while.
You can fake a breaststroke leg in a SCY 200 IM. You cannot however fake a distance event. It just doesn’t work.
I don’t expect Sun to ever reach his personal best in the 400 again. In fact I would be very surprised. In 2012, he was in his prime at the age of 21. Agnel peaked when he was 19, Thorpe when he was 18. He was taking Trimetazidine he was taking at the time as well, which was fine since it didn’t become illegal till 2014. He should have taken an extra stroke at London, and he would be the first man under 3:40, and the world record holder.
If Thorpe took another stroke in 2002 he would be the first man under 3:40 and Biedermann wouldn’t have broken the WR.
He said he held back at the end to save for a relay. Aint that a shame?
Aint it a shame Sun Yang glided in London?