The Chinese again proved he has few peers in the distance freestyle events as he defended the 800m title he won in Shanghai two years ago.

Sun has had a difficult year since winning the 400m and 1500m freestyle golds at London last year after splitting with his coach Zhu Zhigen and moving to Hong Kong to work with former Chinese head coach Zhang Yadong.

“To compete with the USA and Australia is very hard for Chinese swimmers and I am very proud of myself,” said Sun.

“Everyone has their own way of expressing themselves and for me it is to cry.

“I am very happy with my performance and to get another gold medal.

“The pressure comes from both myself and people outside.

“At the end, I gave the flowers to my parents to show my gratitude to them for supporting me after I left my coach.”

With the 1500m heats to come on Saturday, Sun can finish with three golds and looks set to become the male star of the championships.

“I haven’t thought about breaking records or being the star of the games, I just want to win as many golds as possible,” he said.

The 22-year-old McBroom, who was winning his first major medal, said it was an honour just to swim with Sun.

“He has proven over the past couple of years that he is the elite distance swimmer in the world,” said the American.

“I’m excited. I just wanted to come here and have the best swim that I could and I did that.”

Canada’s Cochrane, who finished fourth in Sunday’s 400m freestyle final, said he was happy to be back on the podium having won world silver behind Sun in 2011.

“Fourth place is a frustrating place to be and to know I can claw my way back onto the podium is great and now I look forward to the 1500m,” said the 24-year-old.

“I think we always have expectations coming to a world championship and I expected three medals so it took the wind out of me after the 400m on the first day, but as an athlete, you have to be prepared for anything.”