Sun, who was suffering from cold symptoms, swam 15:01.97 seconds in the same heat as Australia’s Mack Horton and placed only 16th among all the 45 competitors. “I caught a cold and I was feeling bad”, Sun said afterwards.
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Sun said he was struck down by illness after winning the 200m freestyle on Monday and blamed this for today’s failure.
“I felt weak and it was hard to exert strength”.
With the top time in the world this year going in to the event, Cate will be looking to get back to her best, put together a good semi tonight and be in the mix for a medal in the final on day 8. The USA’s Jordan Wilimovsky came in first, with a time of 14:48.23.
Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, who won the world title in Russian Federation a year ago when Sun, complaining of chest pain, pulled out of the final at the last minute, was taken aback by Sun’s performance.
Horton’s remarks triggered outrage in China, where state-run media savaged the Australian swimmer, calling him immoral and calling his country a former “offshore prison”. Only Grant Hackett has swum faster than Horton on the domestic front and when Horton talks about “time goals” that’s probably what he means. I’m not really paying that much attention to it.
“I hope I can do the same thing and still be competing at 31 or 32”.
Sun also grumbled about not being able to adjust to the time difference after preparing for the Games in California.
“Often when it’s three or four in the morning, I’ve been wide awake staring at the ceiling”.
In men’s 100m butterfly, Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling casued an upset, overtaking American great Michael Phelps to take gold.
China’s two silvers include Sun’s runner-up finish to Horton.
Later Friday there are also finals in the women’s 200m backstroke and men’s 50m freestyle.
China’s Chen Xinyi withdrew after testing positive for a banned substance.
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In other finals on the penultimate day of swimming competition, Katie Ledecky seeks a fourth gold of the week in the 800m freestyle, the race that launched her to stardom at the 2012 London Games.
