She represented China at the 2004 Athens Olympics, 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.
A former training partner confessed in court to spiking her drink with androsterone, but she still received a two-year ban from the sport.
Sun Yingjie has an easily recognizable running style where her arms are almost completely extended and point straight down.
[1] Her two-year ban was upheld despite a civil court ruling that another athlete, Yu Haijiang, had spiked her drink with androsterone.
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.
[4] 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 consoled herself with an appearance at the Good Luck Beijing China Athletics Open in the Bird's Nest Stadium – a pre-games test event.
She set her sights on making the 2008 Beijing Marathon and the 2009 National Games of China her final major performances of her career.