- Chinese star swimmer refused to submit a blood sample
- China’s most high-profile Olympian will miss the Tokyo Games
Chinese swimming star Sun Yang has lost his case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport and has been banned for eight years, the CAS ruled today.
The swimmer, who says he will appeal against the ban, was brought before the highest court of appeal in sport by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) over incidents surrounding an out-of-competition test at his home in September 2018.
Sun's team questioned the credentials of the testers, resulting in a refusal to give some samples and the destruction of others. It was claimed some blood samples were smashed with a hammer at the swimmer's request.
Fina held a hearing into the irregularities surrounding the test and cleared Sun of wrongdoing in January 2019.
However, Wada were unhappy with that ruling and took the case to CAS, seeking a four-year ban for the swimmer.
"The CAS panel unanimously determined, to its comfortable satisfaction, that the athlete violated Article 2.5 FINA DC (Tampering with any part of Doping Control)," read a statement from the CAS.
"In particular, the panel found that the personnel in charge of the doping control compiled with all applicable requirements as set out in the ISTI. More specifically, the Athlete failed to establish that he had a compelling justification to destroy his sample collection containers and forego the doping control when, in his opinion, the collection protocol was not in compliance with the ISTI (International Standard for Testing and Investigations).
"As the CAS panel noted, it is one thing, having provided a blood sample, to question the accreditation of the testing personnel while keeping the intact samples in the possession of the testing authorities; it is quite another thing, after lengthy exchanges and warnings as to the consequences, to act in such a way that results in destroying the sample containers, thereby eliminating any chance of testing the sample at a later stage."
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Speaking to China's state news agency Xinhua after the announcement, the swimmer said he will "definitely" appeal against his ban from the pool. The ban effectively ends the 28-year-old's top-level swimming career.
Sun requested a public hearing, only the second in CAS history following swimmer Michelle de Bruin. The Irish Olympic gold medallist was found guilty in 1999.
CAS agreed to Sun's request but the hearing was delayed because of personal issues and rescheduled.
That hearing, when it came in November 2019, was broadcast live on the internet. It was beset by translation issues, which eventually saw a Chinese member of the CAS staff step in after the translator appointed by Sun's legal team was unable to translate correctly.
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This delayed the result of the hearing as both sides agreed to a new translation for the transcript ahead of the verdict, CAS announced in December. They also said that a verdict would come no sooner than mid-January.
Sun also complained that he was not allowed to show the videos that he claimed would prove his innocence. Chinese state news agency Xinhua later ran an interview with someone claiming to be one of the doping team on the night. He said that rather than be a training official, he was a construction worker helping a former school friend.
Before the hearing Sun was free to swim at the Fina World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, earlier in the year.
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Sun found himself the target of other athletes in South Korea. Long-time rival Mack Horton refused to share a podium after Sun won the 400m freestyle.
The Australian, who pipped Sun to gold in the event in Rio, has been an outspoken critic of the Chinese swimmer because of his previous drugs ban, which was only announced after being served in 2014.
Sun claims that the doping ban was from heart medicine prescribed by a doctor and an innocent mistake. The drug, trimetazidine, had been upgraded to a stimulant at the time but has since been downgraded and Wada chose not to take it further at the time.
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Elsewhere at the worlds, British swimmer Duncan Scott refused to shake Sun's hand after the 200m free. The Chinese swimmer crowed "You are a loser. I am a winner," to the Briton.
With the verdict hanging over him, Sun continued his preparation for Tokyo 2020, where he was hoping to defend his 200m gold and reclaim the 400m he lost to Horton in Rio.
He swam at the Fina Champions Series in Shenzhen and Beijing this month, picking up one gold (400m) and one silver (200m) in Shenzhen before winning both distances in the Chinese capital.
After winning in Beijing Sun again vowed to defend his Olympic title in Tokyo.
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