Chinese Olympic Swimming Champion Sun Yang Banned 8 Years for Doping Violation

Chinese Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang has received an eight-year ban from competition for missing a doping test in September 2018.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed in a statement on Friday that the 2016 200-meter freestyle Olympic champion had been found guilty of breaking anti-doping rules after refusing to co-operate during a visit from sample collectors and breaking a blood sample container: 

"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.

"As the 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."

Sun was handed a three-month suspension in 2014 for taking a banned substance, and CAS said that past offence factored in to the decision to ban him for eight years this time.

The 28-year-old, who is one of China's most famous athletes, has said he plans to appeal the suspension, per Reuters:

The lengthy ban is likely to end Sun's career if upheld. He won gold medals in the 400- and 1,500-meter freestyle events at the 2012 London Olympics and again won gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Great Britain's Duncan Scott refused to share a podium with Sun at the 2019 FINA World Championships after the Chinese's victory in the 200-meter freestyle, which led to a confrontation between the pair:

Sun was initially cleared of wrongdoing by world swimming body FINA in January 2019, six months before the World Championships. However, the  decision has now been overturned after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

WADA issued a statement after Yang's ban was announced, saying they welcomed the ruling and are "satisfied that justice in this case has been rendered."