While former world record holder Sun Yang of China missed the chance to represent his nation at the 2024 Olympic Games, he will still be making his post-ban debut this year.
According to Anhui local news site Dawan, 32-year-old Sun is set to race at the National Summer Swimming Championships taking place in Hefei from August 25th – August 28th.
Sources from the Anhui Provincial Sports Bureau revealed to Dawan that they received confirmation from the sports authority about Sun’s participation and the arrival of the high-profile athlete has intensified security measures at the venue. (China Daily)
The hype surrounding the freestyle ace’s return is real, as the tag “Sun Yang‘s Comeback Confirmed in Hefei” reportedly climbed to 9th place on Weibo’s trending list, garnering over 14 million views. (China Daily)
After serving a 4-year doping suspension which lasted until May of this year. We reported in June of last year that Sun returned to training and had no plans to retire.
Entering Paris, Sun still owned the men’s LCM 1500 freestyle world record with the 14:31.02 he produced for gold at the 2012 Olympic Games. However, American Bobby Finke took this down as he topped the podium just weeks ago.
You can review how Sun Yang‘s doping suspension unfolded via our past articles:
- September 2018: Sun challenges authorization of doping control agents during test, ending with a vial of his blood being smashed
- January 2019: an independent anti-doping panel rules in Sun’s favor, leading FINA (the international governing body for swimming) to not issue a sanction against Sun
- March 2019: WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) appeals that decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport
- November 2019: CAS hears the case in a fully-public hearing marred by translation issues. The full 11-hour hearing is live-streamed online.
- February 2020: The three-person CAS panel rules against Sun, banning him for eight years.
- July 2020: Sun files two appeals with the Swiss Federal Tribunal, hoping to either have his ban overturned or revised.
- December 2020: The Swiss Federal Tribunal overturns the ban, sending the case back to CAS for a second hearing. The decision centers around the first panel’s president, who tweeted racist comments about China on social media.
- May 2021: Yang does not compete at the Chinese National Championships, amid uncertainty of the outcome of his CAS retrial.
- June 2021: CAS retrial results in ruling to reduce Yang’s ban to 4 years and 3 months
- December 2021: Sun Yang Under Investigation for Training at Government-Funded Facilities
I’m Chinese, and I want to ask: Do you really know the whole truth?
During Sun Yang’s 4 years and 3 months suspension, all of his achievements were real and valid. He was only penalized for resisting a test with violence, which was confirmed by the court. It is an undeniable fact that there were flaws in WADA’s testing process. Additionally, you might not have access to our Chinese news, but you should know that CCTV is China’s official news channel and is highly authoritative. If an athlete in China were suspended for real doping, CCTV would never report on such an athlete. However, after being suspended for 4 years and 3 months, Sun Yang came back to participate… Read more »
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Welcome back！
wow, all-round goat in distance swimming is back.
If he were to swim till Olympics 2028, he’s supposed to outswim his posterior batch of elite swimmers in Singapore.
Wait & see.
I think the real question is, China has already banned athletes with doping scandals from representing China in international competitions. (Sun Yang was tested positive in 2014). Besides his mom said something really bad about sports administration. So I doubt he will come back.
A somewhat related and wild suggestion – if Yanyan could speak Mandarin (which is not a wild assumption in itself), could SS get her to interview 1 or 2 of the Chinese Olympians (ideally Pan, Qin or Zhang who appear quite eloquent in media interviews in Mandarin)?
Ngl if the 200 free finals field is only capable of 1:44.7 like in Paris, it’s not out of the realm of possibility for this guy’s experience to pull him through. The 400 field though has gotten too good for him to be competitive at this point.