China's swimming champion Sun Yang has pledged to come back even stronger following his surprise elimination from the men's 1,500m freestyle at the ongoing 2016 Rio Games.

The 24-year-old Chinese swimmer registered an official time of 15 minutes 1.97 seconds in his heat on Friday finishing in seventh place.

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Sun's performance is over half a minute slower than what he has achieved (14.31:02) at the London Games four year ago, 14.31:02.

According to China Daily Asia, Sun said that he felt sick after claiming the top prize in Monday's 200-meter freestyle contest.

"I was quite sick right after the 200m," Sun, who has already won three Olympic gold medals and seven World Championships titles, said. "I didn't think my body condition had declined that much after the 200m but I swam one minute, 44 seconds for the 200, something I'd never done before, and that was really intense. I think it influenced my body condition too."

With the Chinese failing to qualify, Sun will have to miss the Rio 2016 Olympic final and the chance to defend the title he won four years ago.

Sun said that he would use his failure to make Saturday's 1,500m final as a driving force for him to work harder and even cited the United States' Michael Phelps as a source of inspiration.

"I'm looking forward to competing in more 1,500m events when I'm training in the US or Australia," he said. "I'll try to start finding the rhythm again because the key is in rhythm control."

"Phelps has set a great model for me to keep me motivated." Sun stated.

TagsSun Yang, michael phelps, Rio Olympics 2016, 2012 london olympics, FINA