When his nation China hosted the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, Yang maintained a distant, powerful lead over the rest of the field to deliver the much anticipated gold medal for his team in the boys' 10 m air rifle with a nearly scintillating record of 209.3. Less than a month later, Yang continued to display his sheer dominance in the sport by capturing his first ever title at the World Championships in Granada, Spain, setting a new junior world record of 632.1 points. Yang's exceptional triumph in the meet vaulted him to the top of the world rankings and also granted him one of the six Olympic quota places for Rio 2016.