Date set for Sun’s doping appeal

SWIMMING champion Sun Yang will finally have to explain why he flew into a rage and smashed his own doping samples with a hammer before they could be tested for drugs.

More than a year after he went on the rampage after an out-ofcompetition test at his home in China, the drawn-out appeal date has finally been set, with the case to be heard in Switzerland on November 15. That is enough time for the sport’s most divisive competitor to be booted out of next year’s Tokyo Olympics if he is found guilty of an anti-doping breach.

Through statements issued by his lawyers, Sun has maintained he did nothing wrong, but the freestyler could finally give his own version of events after the Court of Arbitration for Sport agreed to hold the hearing in public and live stream proceedings.

It’s only the second time that a CAS appeal has been held in public — the last was 20 years ago involving the Irish swimmer Michelle Smith.

At his initial hearing in January, Sun admitted destroying the samples but was let off with a severe warning after the panel agreed with his argument that the testers did not have the right credentials — a ruling the World AntiDoping Agency refutes, prompting their appeal.

Published a week before the start of the world swimming championships, the explosive revelations from the report became the catalyst for Australian Mack Horton and British freestyler Duncan Scott to take matters into their own hands by staging their stunning protests. A furious Sun exploded when his fellow competitors refused to join him on the medal ceremony, directly confronting Scott and calling him a “loser” and accusing Horton of insulting the whole of China, but he has received little support from the rest of the international swimming community.

Millions of Chinese have also accused Australia of double standards after the cover-up over Shayna Jack’s positive test.

And Sun didn’t hold back this week when it was revealed American freestyle Conor Dwyer had failed a doping test and been banned.