Chinese Swimming Star Waits for Verdict

(ATR) A decision is expected in the coming weeks by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on a disputed drug test for champion Chinese swimmer Sun Yang.

The 27-year-old won China’s first gold medal for swimming in 2012 at the London Olympics. He’s won a gold medal at the Olympics or FINA world championships in every freestyle event from 200m to 1500m.

He could lose the chance to compete at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo if the CAS ruling goes against him.

Sun faces accusations from the World Anti-Doping Agency that he interfered with an out of competition drug test in 2018. Sun refused to produce a urine sample. But the glass vessel containing a blood sample was smashed to bits by a member of Sun’s entourage during the late night visit that began before midnight at his home in China.

Sun says the drug control officer did not have proper identification. The same agent was involved in a dispute with Sun in a previous doping test.

Aquatics federation FINA absolved Sun of wrongdoing. But the World Anti Doping Agency said Sun should have been penalized with a ban from competition for more than two years.

FINA accepted Sun’s assertions over the credential of the drug control officer. That led FINA to conclude that since the testing was not valid, no doping infractions could have occurred. That ruling in January led WADA to launch the appeal heard today.

The 10-hour hearing included presentations from a string of attorneys representing WADA, FINA and Sun. The swimmer himself closed the hearing with his own personal appeal.

Sun said the hearing was an opportunity to "be open and transparent to the world".

"If sports organizations don’t follow their own rules, what is the point of talking about fair play," queried Sun, his voice rising with his emotions, nearly drowning out the interpreter’s voice.

The appeal was presented in a Montreux, Switzerland hotel. Originally planned for CAS headquarters in Lausanne, the hearing was movedto Montreux to have a larger space to accommodate media and other members of the public to attend.

For only the second time in the 25 year history of CAS, the hearing was held in public, the proceedings distributed worldwide via streaming video. Recordings of the hearing are available on line.

The only other public hearing held by CAS came in 1989. Irish swimmer Michelle Smith de Bruin challenged a five year ban following a ruling by FINA that she used alcohol to manipulate her test samples. An Olympic gold medalist, de Bruin lost the appeal, but was allowed to keep her medals without proof she used performance enhancing drugs.

Sun has been penalized before for doping. In 2014 the Chinese Swimming Association handed down a three-month ban for the stimulant trimetazidine. Since then the drug has been recognized as a heart treatment.

This year at the FINA world championships in South Korea, competitors from Australia and Great Britain declined to shake Sun’s hand during the 400m medal ceremony. Sun was the gold medalist.

Reported by Ed Hula.