Chinese swimmer hit with eight-year doping ban

Sun Yang, the first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming gold medal and the first male swimmer in history to earn Olympic and world championship gold medals at every freestyle distance between 200 and 1,500 metres, has been banned from competition for eight years.

The Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport found he refused to co-operate with blood sample collectors in violation of rules established by FINA, swimming’s governing body.

At issue was an attempt to collect a blood sample from Sun at his residence in September 2018. Evidence was presented that a security guard instructed by Sun’s mother smashed the casing around a vial of his blood with a hammer.

FINA’S Doping Panel ruled that drug-testing protocol hadn’t been properly followed because the collection team members didn’t properly identified themselves to Sun and he wasn’t properly notified he needed to submit the samples.

A warning was issued to the swimmer.

The World Anti-doping Agency appealed FINA’S decision to CAS.

After a 10-hour hearing, during which Sun was seen to be evasive, CAS found the collection team had acted properly and that Sun “failed to establish he had a compelling justification to destroy the sample collection containers.”

Sun, a three-time Olympic gold medallist and 11-time world champion, has 30 days to file an appeal to Switzerland’s supreme court.

He wrote on China’s Sina Weibo social media platform that he’ll appeal and he’s innocent.

CAS ruled the 28-year-old Sun’s results won’t be overturned because he hadn’t actually tested positive for any banned substances.

But if his appeal is unsuccessful, Sun’s competitive swimming career would appear to be finished. The Washington Post