Sun Yang wins gold in 400 Free Final at FINA World Champs

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Sun Yang, China’s world-record-holding swimmer, grabbed gold in the 400 meters’ freestyle at the 17th FINA World Championships in Budapest on Sunday.

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It was the first gold China claimed from the 8-day championships.

Clocked 3 minutes 41.38 seconds, Sun who retained his world title, roared at his victory and punched in the water in a big relief. Sun was stressed with huge expectation from the country, his friends and family, according to his coaches Zheng Kunliang and Denis Cotterell.

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"It was not about my opponent's lackluster performance. Maybe I just did better today, and training on some details recently has paid off," Sun talked about his morale-boosting victory. He also mentioned his friend, South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan who was following him in speed-up.

South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan speaks at a press conference in Seoul on June 16, 2016. / Yonhap Photo

Park Tae-hwan maintained his position at fourth in 3 minutes, 43.93 seconds.

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Sun was 2.48 seconds ahead of Australian swimmer Mack Horton, who won silver medal in 3 minutes, 43.85 seconds. Last year, after defeating Sun in 400m free at the Olympics, Horton called out Sun as a "drug cheat.” The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) defended the 20-year-old who refused to apologize.

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Gabriele Detti of Italy was placed third with 0.08 second behind Horton.

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Sun will also compete in 200m, 800m and 1500m frees at worlds, and he needs to get himself ready for the 200m heat on Monday.

In women's 400m freestyle, Katie Ledecky broke the championships record for the second time in a single day, as her time of 3 minutes 58.34 seconds has bettered that of 3:59.06 in the heat. China's Li Bingjie, 15, took the bronze at 4 minutes, 3.25 seconds in her maiden World Championships appearance.

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Li said that she was both excited and nervous competing the person she’s been looking up to, Ledecky, in the water.

Team USA also snatched two golds in men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay. The Chinese team, made up of Zhu Menghui, Zhang Yufei, Wu Yue and Ai Yanhan, followed Sweden to gain sixth.

Britain's Adam Peaty, first in men's 100m breaststroke semifinals, was the other athlete that set a new championships record at 57.75 seconds on Sunday.

Chinese swimmer Yan Zibei also made into the final.

Ye Shiwen, London Olympic Games champion, was shocked in women's 200m individual medley, as she failed to secure a final spot after finishing 15th in the semi-finals.