Doping: suspended 8 years, Chinese swimmer Sun Yang drinks the cup

Chinese Sun Yang at the 2019 World Swimming Championships. Oli SCARFF / AFP

Text by: David Kalfa Follow

Sun Yang was sentenced to 8 years suspension by the Sports Arbitral Tribunal (CAS) on February 28, 2020. The Chinese swimmer, who decided to appeal this decision, hammered out a sample during a '' an unexpected doping control in September 2018.

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The career of the swimmer who " pisses purple " - according to the French Camille Lacourt during the 2016 Olympics - is it over? Sun Yang, 28, has in any case just suffered a terrible blow, this February 28, 2020, and should not compete in the Tokyo Olympics . The Chinese, who was in conflict with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), lost to WADA before the Sports Arbitral Tribunal (CAS). He was given an eight-year suspension " from the date of the CAS decision ", for having destroyed a sample with a hammer during an unannounced inspection carried out in September 2018.

The highest level of sports litigation has found that " the doping control staff have met all the requirements " and that Sun Yang " has not established that he had a valid explanation for destroying his sample ". The CAS considered the attitude of the 2012 and 2016 Olympic champion serious enough to impose the maximum sentence.

Sun Yang to appeal

The incredible blood stroke of Sun Yang has undoubtedly not finished feeding the chronicle. He immediately announced his intention to appeal to the Swiss Federal Court, his last legal appeal. " It is unfair, I firmly believe in my innocence. I will appeal so that as many people as possible know the truth, "he said, according to remarks reported by the Chinese news agency Xinhua.

The one who has been crowned eleven times world champion also pays his liabilities. He had already been suspended for three months in 2014 for a positive control of a stimulant (trimetazidine).

Its sanction is also a setback for the International Swimming Federation (FINA). FINA had indeed cleared Sun Yang. Unhappy with this decision, the World Anti-Doping Agency then seized the Sports Arbitral Tribunal.

A disparaged athlete

If he is a superstar in China, Sun Yang remains a criticized athlete outside his country. At the 2019 World Championships in the large basin, several swimmers had openly expressed their distrust of the Chinese. Australian Mack Horton, second in the 400m behind Sun, had given up on the podium in protest. Then the Briton Duncan Scott, in bronze over 200 m, refused to shake his hand at the end of the ceremonial ceremony.

In 2016, in Rio, the French Camille Lacourt had made the headlines by accusing Sun Yang of having purple urine, by dint of taking doping products ...

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