Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang has been handed an eight-year suspension for violating a 2018 doping test, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Friday.
The 28-year-old swimmer is the first major Chinese sports figure to be given the eight-year ban — which is the maximum that CAS can issue — and the ruling will keep him from competing in the2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics.
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Over his historic career, Sun has taken home three gold medals, two at the 2012 London Olympics and the third from Rio de Janeiro in 2016.
WADA first filed the complaint after anti-doping representatives came to test Sun for performance-enhancing drugs and the swimmer allegedly smashed the vial containing his blood with a hammer, theNew York Timesreported.
“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,” CAS wrote of their decision.
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“I firmly believe in my innocence. I will definitely appeal to let more people know the truth,” he added.
WADA shared in astatementthat the organization is “satisfied that justice in this case has been rendered” and “welcomes the ruling of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
This isn’t the first time Sun has been suspended from competition over doping allegations.
The swimmer was suspended for three months in 2014 for taking a banned heart medication, which he later claimed he didn’t know was illegal, according toUSA Today.
Over the years, athletes have referred to Sun as a “drug cheat”and somerefused to shake hands or even standnext to the swimmer after learning of his accusations.
source: people.com
