LONDON — Sun Yang’s big night nearly ended before it began.
When it was over, though, the Chinese star had been excused from a false start and set another world record to win the grueling 1,500-meter freestyle — the longest event in the pool.
That’s when the tears started flowing.
“I really cried in the finish line,” Sun said through a translator after Saturday’s Olympic race. “I was afraid of the false start. I was so scared that I would be disqualified. I was so relieved.”
As fans drowned the arena with noise, Sun dove into the water before the starter’s gun, while everyone else remained on the blocks. Sun glanced at the starter with a confused look, got back out of the pool and waited to see if he would be disqualified.
“I could not hear the judge because there was noise in the venue,” he said. “I thought I was going to be disqualified.”
But the starter allowed him to go, judging that he was distracted by the raucous crowd, and that decision essentially decided the gold medal. No one else was close to Sun, who was going faster at the end than he was at the beginning, leaving everyone in his wake.......................
Men’s 1500 Free – Finals
For the second time this meet, an unusual start nearly led to disaster. When China’s Sun Yang hit the water, suddenly the London Aquatics Centre was silent. The World Record holder, the monster favorite, the sure-thing to break the record again, might not even get a chance to swim. When the officials said “stand up,” Sun hit the water.
But a reprieve: the arena was NOT silent moments before, and shouts by the crowd that caused the false start gave Sun a pass; the command to stand came from crowd noise. Without this relief, which we might have missed the greatest 1500 swim in history.............
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