Tang Yan and Sun Yang were both up for the 1500 meters. With double insurances, the audience was eager to see the Chinese team win this gold medal. It was already the last match day and this gold medal was also likely to be the last gold medal for the Chinese swimming team.
The swimmers appeared one after another, Ryan Cochrane, Gergő Kis and others attracted cheers from the audience.
Tang Yan made his penultimate appearance, and his appearance attracted even greater cheers from the audience.
Last to appear was Sun Yang. Compared with Tang Yan, his appearance ignited the stadium instantly.
Tang Yan and Sun Yang began to make final preparations.
Although they had communicated a lot before, the two were still seemingly carefree conversing as they got ready.
"You weren"t here for the 800 meters last time but now you"re actually here we can compete properly for the 1500m. I"m actually looking forward to it." Sun Yang said to Tang Yan with a smile.
"If we perform normally, we should be able to win gold and silver." Tang Yan nodded.
"My gold medal, your silver medal, for gold and silver, nice." Sun Yang said with a smile.
Tang Yan laughed and didn"t retort. The two had become close over the past few months, so he didn"t mind him and his jokes.
The two talked for a bit before going off to psych themselves up and get in the zone.
A few minutes later, the referee on the sidelines rang the bell to signal the swimmers to come up to the take-off platforms.
"On your marks."
The prompt sounded from the sidelines.
"Get set!"
All the swimmers arched over and got in position.
Buzz!
With the cheers of the audience, the swimmers rushed into the pool.
The 1500m freestyle final of the World Champions.h.i.+ps officially kicked off.
Sun Yang grabbed the lead right from the beginning, and you could see that he really wanted to win gold.
Sun Yang was followed by Gergő Kis, one of the few swimmers able to threaten him for the gold medal.
Kis was followed by Cochrane, and the three favourites fell into battle right from the beginning.
Tang Yan accelerated slightly after coming out of the water, allowing himself to follow behind Cochrane.
1500 meters was a long distance so he didn"t have to be too aggressive at the beginning.
In the first 100 meters, Sun Yang still maintained the lead, and the order of the top four swimmers didn"t change. The only changes were among the other swimmers at the bottom of the rankings.
"Sun Yang"s state is excellent and his fighting spirit is quite high. He might not just be looking to win gold this time but also break the world record he set!" The on-site commentator commented.
"In long-distance events, he has demonstrated absolute dominance. The previous 800 meters has already proved that, I believe he will surprise us again and with Tang Yan hopeful to win silver, the Chinese swimming team is bound to gain a lot tonight. "The guest commentator replied excitedly.
In the second 100 meters, Sun Yang still maintained his leading position, continuing with the same pace.
On the third 100 meters, the situation in the pool changed. Kis accelerated to surpa.s.s Sun Yang to take first place. Cochrane also accelerated to match up with Sun Yang. As for Tang Yan, he still maintained his fourth place position.
By the 400m mark, Cochrane also surpa.s.sed Sun Yang and he and Kis began to fight for first place.
For the next few 100 meters, the positions of the swimmers didn"t change any more.
That is until the 800m mark, the situation in the pool changed dramatically, and it was Tang Yan who caused the change.
Since the 800m race he had unlocked more of Zhang Shun"s abilities and in addition to increasing lung capacity, his endurance had further increased.
So after completing 800 meters, Tang Yan naturally started to accelerate, changing his kick frequency directly from 4 to 6 times, with this sudden change in speed, he soon caught up with Sun Yang.
Sun Yang was reserving his energy for the last 200m for a sprint. So even after seeing Tang Yan surpa.s.sing him, he didn"t rush to accelerate.
Tang Yan surpa.s.sed Sun Yang and after a while he caught up with the first two, Kis and Cochrane, who were still chasing each other for first place.
Surpa.s.sing Sun Yang, Tang Yan joined the compet.i.tion for first.
This change left Kish and Cochrane slightly surprised and also ignited the emotions of the audience.
"Tang Yan! Tang Yan!"
Although it was only the 800 meter mark, the audience gave scattered cheers.
"Tang Yan is a little early. What he"s best at is last minute outbreaks. In fact, if he had stayed back until the last 200 meters, or 100 meters before he broke out. He could"ve even threatened Sun Yang." The main commentator said with regret.
The guest commentator was a little silent at this time. After watching Tang Yan for a few races, he knew that Tang Yan was a smart swimmer.
"Well it looks like Tang Yan is planning to take first, which is not too bad an idea, as long as he can maintain it without wasting too much energy. So he has something left for the last 200m sprint and can contend and defend his position." The guest commentator said after some thought.
Tang Yan did not descend after speeding up.
At the 900 meter mark, he had overtaken Kish to take first.
At 1000 meters, Kis, who was in second place, had already fallen half a metre behind.
At 1100 meters, his lead turned into a metre, and he continued to distance himself.
The audience already couldn"t help standing up and shouting.
At 1200 meters, his lead was expanded to two to three meters, and the distance was obvious to the naked eye.
But Kis, Cochrane and Sun Yang could be seen slowly upping the pace to close the distance gradually in preparation.