"He is the athlete. No matter what I say, at the moment, when the time comes, they get on the block, they have to be the individuals...When it comes to the race, it's the moment of truth."

Sun yelled out after finding out the results on the big screen. "It seemed that there was something weighing on my heart and I finally cast it off after the race."

Cotterell added that he understood the pressure Sun was under.

"Yesterday we had a good talk about how to reduce the pressure," said Cotterell. "The whole nation, friends, trying to please the coach, for a number of reasons. But we have to make sure you don't take it as pressure. You try to see it as a support that can lift you up, and inspire. Otherwise it goes another way. It's very easy for all that support to become pressure. So I'm just so pleased that he executed the perfect race."

Sun is slated to swim the 200m freestyle heats in Monday morning. He took the gold in the event at the Rio Olympic Games last year.

He is also planning to take part in the 800m and 1,500m freestyle. He has won three times in a row in the 800m event at previous three World Championships. He took home victories in the 1500m at the 2017 Olympic Games and at two World Championships.

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