Sun Yingjie (; born January 19, 1979 in

Sujiatun Sujiatun District () is one of ten districts of the prefecture-level city of Shenyang, the capital of Liaoning Province, Northeast China, and forms part of the southern suburbs. The current population of Sujiatun is 430,000 and is located 15&nbs ...

Shenyang Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu language, Manchu name Mukden, is a major China, Chinese sub-provincial city and the List of capitals in China#Province capitals, provincial capital of Lia ...

Liaoning Liaoning () is a coastal province in Northeast China that is the smallest, southernmost, and most populous province in the region. With its capital at Shenyang, it is located on the northern shore of the Yellow Sea, and is the northernmost ...

) is a

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

female

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

who competes in events ranging from

5000 metres The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stan ...

to the

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

. She rose to prominence by winning two

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

s at the

2002 Asian Games The 2002 Asian Games ( ko, 2002년 아시아 경기대회/2002년 아시안 게임, Icheoni-nyeon Asia gyeonggi daehoe/Icheoni-nyeon Asian Geim), officially known as the XIV Asian Games ( ko, 제14회 아시아 경기대회/제14회 아시안 � ...

. In 2003, she won a

bronze medal A bronze medal in sports and other similar areas involving competition is a medal made of bronze awarded to the third-place finisher of contests or competitions such as the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, etc. The outright winner receive ...

in the

10,000 metres The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The race ...

at the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. She won two golds at the

2003 Asian Athletics Championships The 15th Asian Athletics Championships were held in Manila, Philippines on September 20–23, 2003. Results Men Women Medal table Participating nations * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Se ...

and won the

Beijing Marathon The Beijing Marathon () is an annual marathon race held around October in Beijing, People's Republic of China, since 1981. The race begins at Tiananmen Square and finishes in Celebration Square in Olympic Green. The full marathon is the only ...

in an Asian record time that year. She represented China at the

2004 Athens Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

, reaching the top eight in the 5000 m and 10,000 m finals, and set a national record to win the gold at the

2004 IAAF World Half Marathon Championships The 13th IAAF World Half Marathon Championships was held on 3 October 2004 in New Delhi, India. A total of 152 athletes, 91 men and 61 women, from 55 countries took part. Detailed reports on the event and an appraisal of the results were given b ...

. The following year Sun ran at the 2005 World Championships and won the Beijing Marathon for a second time. Two days after her win, she won a silver medal at the

2005 National Games of China The 10th National Games of the People's Republic of China was a multi-sport event that was held in Nanjing City, Jiangsu Province, from 12–23 October 2005. As a premier national sporting event, the 10th National Games of China, National Games o ...

, but failed a drug test. A former training partner confessed in court to spiking her drink with

androsterone Androsterone, or 3α-hydroxy-5α-androstan-17-one, is an endogenous steroid hormone, neurosteroid, and putative pheromone. It is a weak androgen with a potency that is approximately 1/7 that of testosterone. Androsterone is a metabolite of tes ...

, but she still received a two-year ban from the sport. She returned to competition in 2008 but was far from her best form and did not qualify for the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

. Sun Yingjie has an easily recognizable running style where her arms are almost completely extended and point straight down.

Career

Marathon success and world medallist

From 1997 to 2000, Sun Yingjie focused on

s. Her major marathon debut was in the

Chinese National Games The National Games of the People's Republic of China (), sometimes known as the All China Games (though not to be confused with the All-China Games), is the premier sports event in China at national level. It is usually held once every four yea ...

in October 1997 where she finished 10th (2:32:43). In 1998, she ran her first sub-2:30 race in National Championships in Tianjin (2:25:45). In 1999, she came in 12th (2:30:12) in

Seville Seville (; es, Sevilla, ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula ...

. In 2001, after finishing third and second in 5000 m (15:02.70) and 10,000 m (31:49.47), respectively in 2001 Chinese National Games, she expanded into the shorter races. In the

Busan Busan (), officially known as is South Korea's most populous city after Seoul, with a population of over 3.4 million inhabitants. Formerly romanized as Pusan, it is the economic, cultural and educational center of southeastern South Korea, w ...

, she achieved double wins in both 5000 m (14:40.41) and 10,000 m (30:28.26). Her 10,000m winning time ranked second in 2002 world list. During the 2003 World Championships she achieved her greatest success when she won the bronze medal in 10,000 metres (30:07.20). The race was considered the fastest women's 10,000m race in history in that the top four finishers ran times that ranked 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th fastest of all time. Two continental records, five national records and the world junior record were also broken in this race. Sun led most of the race and was only overtaken by Ethiopian runners in the last lap. She also finished 9th in 5000 m in a respectable time of 14:57.01 during the same competition. In October 2003, she became the first Chinese woman and fourth woman in the world to break the 2 hour 20 minute time in a women's marathon when she won her second Beijing Marathon at 2:19:39 which was also a former Asian best. In 2004, Sun had a disappointing debut in

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

in Athens where she finished 8th in 5000 m (15:07.23) and 6th in 10,000 m (30:54.37) due to the injuries during training in the winter. After the Olympics, she bounced back in October to win the world title in

half marathon A half marathon is a road running event of —half the distance of a marathon. It is common for a half marathon event to be held concurrently with a marathon or a 5K race, using almost the same course with a late start, an early finish or shortcu ...

with a time of 68:40.

2005 doping ban

Although her times in 2005 Helsinki improved from the Olympics, she only placed 11th in 5000 m (14:51.19) and 7th in 10,000 m (30:33.53). Later in October, she won her 4th straight Beijing Marathon title with quality time of 2:21:01. The after-competition drug test was negative. Two days later, she appeared in Nanjing and finished 2nd in 10,000 m behind

Xing Huina Xing Huina (; born February 25, 1984, in Hanting, Weifang, Shandong) is a former Chinese track and field athlete. In a relatively short elite career that effectively ended before the age of 25, her most significant achievement was to win ...

in the Chinese National Games. Following the race, she tested positive in a drug test and was banned from competing for two years. Her two-year ban was upheld despite a civil court ruling that another athlete, Yu Haijiang, had spiked her drink with

Return and retirement

She made her return to

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competiti ...

at the 2008

Xiamen International Marathon The Xiamen International Marathon () is an annual marathon race held in January in the coastal city of Xiamen in Fujian province, People's Republic of China. It is one of the prominent marathon races of the year. More than 50,000 runners took p ...

in January. She ran with the leading group up until the 20 km mark, but then faded in the second half of the race and finished with time of 2:38:21 – some 15 minutes behind winner Zhang Yingying. In spite of this, she was upbeat about her performance and considered her preparations for the

to be on schedule. Her performances on the track later that year did not reflect this, however, as she finished outside of the top eight in both the 5000 and 10,000 m races at the Chinese Outdoor Grand Prix. She had failed to earn enough points for national selection at the

2008 Beijing Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

and missed her chance to represent her country at the highest level in her home nation. She consoled herself with an appearance at the Good Luck Beijing China Athletics Open in the

Bird's Nest Stadium The National Stadium (), also known as the Bird's Nest (), is an 80,000-capacity stadium in Beijing. The stadium was jointly designed by architects Jacques Herzog and Pierre de Meuron from Basel-based architecture team Herzog & de Meuron, pr ...

– a pre-games test event. Although she had not been initially selected for the meeting, she received a special invitation to compete. However, she managed only twelfth place in the 5000 m: "I wanted to take part in the Olympic Games, but I have no chance now. But I got to experience the Olympic atmosphere in advance, which gave me a little relief...I'm thankful that people still remember me. I felt so sorry for running so poorly." She set her sights on making the 2008 Beijing Marathon and the

2009 National Games of China The 11th National Games of China were held in various cities in Shandong from October 16 to October 28, 2009. Represented were 33 sports, 43 disciplines and 362 events, including 4 winter sports which were held in Shenyang, Changchun and Qingdao b ...

her final major performances of her career.Star runner Sun disappointed by poor showing
China.org.cn. Retrieved on 2010-08-21. She did not run at either competition and has not competed internationally since 2008.

International competitions

National competitions

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sun, Yingjie 1979 births Living people Athletes from Shenyang Chinese female long-distance runners Chinese female marathon runners Olympic athletes of China Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics Asian Games gold medalists for China Asian Games medalists in athletics (track and field) Athletes (track and field) at the 2002 Asian Games World Athletics Championships athletes for China World Athletics Championships medalists World Athletics Half Marathon Championships winners Chinese sportspeople in doping cases Doping cases in athletics Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Runners from Liaoning