National Games | “Veteran of Five Olympic Cycles” Wang Shun Finds It Hard to Say Goodbye

After winning, Wang Shun took off his swimming cap and gave it a tender kiss. Then, with his gaze fixed straight ahead, he leaned back against the waterline for a long moment.

This is Wang Shun’s 19th National Games gold medal—a “veteran of five dynasties”! It also marks another four-consecutive-title achievement on the National Games stage, following his earlier accomplishment of winning four consecutive titles in the men’s 200-meter individual medley.

This is a hard-earned gold medal!

The men’s 400-meter individual medley event at the 15th National Games on the 17th was full of drama. In the morning’s preliminary round, Wang Shun conserved his energy for the subsequent relay preliminaries and didn’t give it his all, ultimately finishing ninth. Later, after several higher-ranked competitors withdrew from the competition, Wang Shun was able to step in as a replacement and advance to the next round.

In the subsequent men’s 4x100-meter medley relay preliminary round, the Zhejiang team, which had finished first, had its result canceled due to a violation and was surprisingly eliminated.

In that evening’s final, Wang Shun’s main rival was originally Zhang Zhanshuo from the Shandong team. The latter had posted the fastest time in the preliminary round and went on to win the men’s 1500-meter freestyle race—held earlier—that day, finishing 3.35 seconds ahead of Fei Liwei from the Zhejiang team, who came in second.

Between the two competitions, there was only a brief interval for the women’s 50-meter breaststroke medal ceremony. After winning the gold medal, Zhang Zhanshuo took a short, relaxing swim in the pool to relieve his physical fatigue—but ultimately, just before the start of the competition, he decided to withdraw.

Although the main rival has withdrawn, for 31-year-old Wang Shun, competing three times in a single day remains a significant challenge.

After the first three swimming strokes, Wang Shun, who was in lane 8, maintained his lead. As he entered the final 100-meter freestyle segment, Huang Zhiwei from the Hunan team and He Yubo from the Hebei team put significant pressure on him. Nevertheless, Wang Shun ultimately touched the wall first with a time of 4 minutes and 14.90 seconds.

“I’m incredibly happy to have won this precious gold medal—not just for myself, but also for Zhejiang—on the final day of competition,” said Wang Shun after the event. “I felt it was a real challenge for myself, because by the final day, my physical condition had truly reached its limit. And this event is extremely demanding. Just being able to stand on the starting block and keep pushing forward, I’m really proud of myself.”

From finishing ninth in the preliminaries to being disqualified for a relay foul and then making a last-minute comeback to win the gold medal in the individual event, Wang Shun described this day as feeling like “riding a roller coaster.” “From 2013 until now, I’ve felt that every single edition has presented incredibly tough challenges. I’m also really happy to have been able to gain some competitiveness in this event. Today was particularly challenging—ninth place in the preliminaries, failing to perform well, getting disqualified in the relay, and then tonight’s final—it really felt just like riding a roller coaster.”

After the competition, when Wang Shun bowed to the audience as he always does, people finally noticed two thick kinesiology tapes adhered to his lower back. Wang Shun said, “Today, my lower back really couldn’t take much more. I took a nap at noon and woke up completely unable to move. Thanks to the timely assistance of a highly professional medical team, including doctors who helped relieve some of my pain, I was able to finish the final smoothly.”

Speaking about his fifth National Games, Wang Shun said, “The experience has been multifaceted—there were unforgettable moments filled with regret, as well as many joyful ones. All sorts of emotions were intertwined. After today’s competition ended, I told myself that this might be my last time competing in the 400-meter individual medley, and every single moment is worth cherishing for me.”

Not long ago, Wang Shun took on a new role: he was elected as a member of the FINA Athletes’ Commission. After the competition, Wang Shun said that his next step is to improve his English skills, engage more frequently with outstanding athletes on the international stage, and listen carefully to their perspectives—thus continuing to contribute to Chinese swimming in yet another way.

“Will we see Wang Shun again on the National Games competition field?” the reporter asked.

“Actually, I’m still pretty eager to compete in another Games. Life doesn’t have to be all about the National Games—other competitions will do just fine. I’m confident that in the future, I’ll still be by the swimming pool, on the track of sports,” said Wang Shun.

Source: Xinhua News Agency

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