Sun Yang: Olympic champion swimmer has eight-year doping ban overturned

Three-time Olympic champion will now have his case returned to a Court of Arbitration for Sport panel after successfully appealing the lengthy ban to Switzerland’s highest court

Chinese swimmer Sun Yang has had his eight-year doping ban overturned by the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

The reigning Olympic 200m freestyle champion was handed a lengthy ban after being accused of smashing the vials containing his blood following a row with a team of Fina drug-testers, during a visit at his home in September 2018. According to the World Anti-Doping Agency, Sun, his mother and his entourage allegedly interfered with the testers’ efforts to gain samples because they did not believe they were properly accredited or qualified to take them.

Sun denied allegations that a hammer was used to destroy the vials during the out-of-competition test. 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) disagreed with his defence and a panel unanimously found him in breach of anti-doping regulations, and in February this year handed him an eight-year ban that effectively ended his professional career in the pool.

But Wada said on Wednesday night that Sun’s appeal to Switzerland’s highest court had ruled in his favour to overturn the sanction, and the case will now return to a Cas panel under the chair of a different president.

READ MORE: Sun Yang given eight-year ban for doping offences

A statement from Wada said: "The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has been informed of the decision of the Swiss Federal Tribunal to uphold the revision application filed by Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and to set aside the 20 February 2020 award of a Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) Panel.

"The case is in relation to Wada's successful appeal against the original Federation Internationale de Natation (Fina) disciplinary panel decision following an incident that led to a doping control involving Sun Yang not being completed as planned."

According to the New York Times, Sun’s lawyers successfully argued to the tribunal that the head of the Cas panel that reached the verdict has made public comments that expressed anti-Chinese sentiments, with the case now set to be ruled on by a different panel.

The ban made headlines earlier this year after Wada challenged an initial verdict by Fina not to charge Sun with any doping breaches, with swimming’s governing body clearing the 29-year-old of wrongdoing. Wada took the case to the Cas, who handed down one of the longest bans in the sport’s history outside of a lifetime sanction. The length of the ban meant it was very unlikely that Sun would be compete again.

But under Fina’s regulations, the ruling allows Sun to resume training and competing.

Sun has already served a three-month ban for an earlier offence in May 2014 when the Chinese Swimming Association punished him after he tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, which had been added to Wada’s prohibited list four months earlier. Wada did not challenge the decision as they accepted Sun’s defence that he had been prescribed the drug to treat heart palpitations, which he had suffered from since 2008.

A number of Sun’s rivals have clashed with the Chinese swimmer in recent years (AFP via Getty)

Sun has three Olympics gold medals to his name, having claimed the 400m 1500m freestyle titles at London 2012, along with two silver medals and 4x200m relay bronze.

However, one of his most infamous incidents came at the World Aquatics Championships in July 2019 when he clashed with British swimmer Duncan Scott, who refused to shake his hand during the medal ceremony as the allegations of possible doping offences had already come to light. Sun reacted by verbally abusing Scott and brandished the third-place finisher a “loser”, drawing boos from the crowd.

Sun was also involved in a separate incident at the same world championships with Australian Mack Horton, who refused to take to the podium with Sun, having previously labelled him a drug cheat at the Rio 2016 Olympics.

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