Editorial | Sun Yang can look to 2024 for bittersweet vindication
- The Court of Arbitration for Sport has dashed the prospect of China’s most decorated swimmer competing at next month’s Tokyo Olympics but opened up the chance to compete at the Paris Games. If anyone can rehabilitate his reputation against the odds of time, it may be the three-time Olympic gold medallist
However, it reduced an earlier suspension of eight years by enough for him to target competing at the Paris Olympics in 2024. By then he will be 32, still young but old for a top-level swimmer. But he is not giving up on his ambition to win another Olympic gold, saying he remains in great physical condition. If he can pull it off, it will be bittersweet vindication. Surely someone who can still beat the best at 32 did not need to cheat when he was top dog in his mid-20s?
In this case Sun was not actually accused of drug-cheating, but was found “to have acted recklessly” when he refused to let anti-doping officials leave his home with a sample of his blood. The incident arose from a dispute over the credentials of the officials.
Sun is China’s most highly recognised sports superstar since basketball player Yao Ming and women’s grand slam tennis champion Li Na.
He did not have an unblemished record. Seven years ago the Chinese Swimming Association banned him for three months over taking a drug he said was for a heart condition, but which is now banned both in and out of competition.
