[3] The inaugural East Asian Games held in Shanghai that year brought him his first international medal, taking silver behind Japan's Akira Nakamura.

He won the bronze medal in the 5000 m, beaten by Japan's Toshinari Takaoka and Ahmed Ibrahim Warsama of Qatar by a margin of less than one second.

[3] Sun defended his steeplechase title at the 1997 National Games of China with a lifetime best performance of 8:10.46 minutes – this was (and remains) the Chinese record for the event.

It is the second best time achieved in the event by an Asian-born athlete, with only Saad Al-Asmari having run faster (many East African-born athletes have run faster for Asian nations, including world record holder Saif Saaeed Shaheen).

[7] Sun's last high level appearance was at the 2001 National Games of China, where he failed to make the steeplechase final, effectively bringing a close to the 31-year-old's career.