China's triple Olympic champion Sun Yang entered the final of the men's 400m freestyle at the 2024 National Summer Swimming Championships on Sunday in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province.

Gold medalist Sun Yang(C), silver medalist Xu Haibo(L) and bronze medalist Xu Yizhou pose for group photos during the awarding ceremony after the final of men's 400m freestyle at the 2024 National Summer Swimming Championships in Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, Aug. 25, 2024. (Xinhua/Du Yu)

After a four-year and three-month suspension, Sun, representing Zhejiang Province, clocked three minutes and 54.98 seconds to top his heat and ranked second overall in the preliminaries, behind Hubei's Xu Haibo.

Sun raised his arms and waved to the cheering audience after his competition. "I feel a little nervous, I haven't felt this way for a long time," Sun Yang said, adding that "I'm satisfied with the result and enjoyed the competition."

Speaking of the final on Sunday evening, Sun said: "I will swim with all my strength in the final, not only for myself, but also for so many fans who come to support me, I will do my best for them."

Born in December 1991 in Zhejiang's capital city of Hangzhou, Sun became China's first-ever men's swimming Olympic champion at London 2012 where he was crowned in both 400m and 1,500m freestyle. At Rio 2016, Sun won the men's 200m free to become the first-ever male swimmer to collect Olympic golds in 200m, 400m and 1,500m free.

In June 2021, a panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that Sun Yang committed Anti-Doping Rule Violations "when an unsuccessful attempt was made to collect blood and urine samples from him at his residence on September 4-5, 2018."

"The Panel concluded that a period of ineligibility of 4 years and 3 months (i.e. 51 months) commencing on February 28, 2020, is to be imposed on Sun Yang," said the CAS.

The just-opened National Summer Swimming Championships is a Class B national swimming event in China, second only to the National Swimming Championships in terms of level and prestige.

The tournament, running from August 25 to 28, has attracted 499 athletes from 24 teams nationwide.