When China hosted the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, Yang maintained a comfortable lead over the rest of the field to win the gold medal for his team in the boys' 10 m air rifle with a record of 209.3. Less than a month later, Yang captured his first ever title at the World Championships in Granada, Spain, setting a new junior world record of 632.1 points. Yang's win vaulted him to the top of the world rankings and also granted him one of the six Olympic quota places for Rio 2016.
