Despite ending seventh within the males’s 200m particular person medley at his eighth World Championships, Chinese veteran swimmer Wang Shun stated he would maintain chasing his ardour with “a brave heart.”
by sportswriters Wang Zijiang and Zhou Xin
SINGAPORE, July 31 (Xinhua) — Fourteen years after making his debut on the World Aquatics Championships, China’s Wang Shun is aware of that profitable a world title is changing into more and more difficult. But the 31-year-old former Olympic champion shouldn’t be prepared to surrender simply but.
Wang, who captured gold within the 200m particular person medley on the Tokyo 2020, completed seventh in Thursday’s last, clocking 1:57.92 – properly off his private better of 1:54.62 and slower than the 1:56.00 that earned him bronze eventually 12 months’s Paris Olympics.
“I don’t think I was fully activated today,” Wang stated. “I felt a bit soft overall. At the start, I didn’t push out strongly or decisively enough.”
His journey on the world stage started in 2011 in Shanghai, the place the 17-year-old Wang completed 18th in his signature occasion – the boys’s 200m particular person medley – as American Ryan Lochte set a then-world report of 1:54.00.
That mark was shattered on Wednesday by France’s Leon Marchand, who clocked 1:52.69 within the semifinals, elevating the bar even larger for the following technology.
“It’s been an emotional journey,” Wang stated. “Back in 2011, Lochte broke the world record – that was a benchmark for me to chase. Now in my eighth Worlds, Marchand breaks it again. There’s always someone ahead to catch up with. That’s what keeps us moving forward.”
Marchand, simply 23 years previous, now holds each the 200m and 400m IM world data and has already secured 4 Olympic gold medals and 6 world titles.
“First of all, congratulations to Marchand for breaking the world record – it’s an incredibly inspiring result,” Wang stated. “It’s truly an unbelievable performance and really uplifting for all of us.”
While Wang stays the one Asian man to have ever gained Olympic gold within the 200m IM, a world title nonetheless eludes him. He beforehand earned bronze within the occasion on the 2015 Kazan and 2017 Budapest championships.
“This is already my eighth World Championships,” Wang stated. “Every time, I can feel how opponents and the field are evolving. Especially after last year’s Olympics, everyone seems to have stepped up. In the 200m IM, the overall level has risen really quickly. Sometimes I just have to sigh in awe – the rate of progress in this sport is incredibly fast.”
Asked if he nonetheless desires of profitable a world title, Wang smiled. “Chasing dreams and staying passionate – that’s what matters most,” he stated. “We need to face challenges, fatigue, and worry with courage, and keep a brave heart moving forward.”