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Explainer | Sun Yang: why is China’s star swimmer missing Tokyo 2020 Olympics?
- Triple Olympic champion banned until May 2024 following contested doping test in September 2018, with many twists along the way
- Swimming superstar had 2019’s eight-year ban overturned but is set to miss Tokyo 2020 Games and next year’s Asian Games
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China’s triple Olympic swimming champion Sun Yang will not be in Tokyo next month to defend the 200m crown he won at the Rio 2016 Games.
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Despite being handed a reduced ban (four years and three months) by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday, the censure rules him out of the delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Asian Games next year, which will be held in his hometown of Hangzhou.
So how did we get here, to the point where one of China’s greatest Olympians and most decorated swimmers in history is left in career limbo?
Here is a timeline of the whole saga, going back to the disputed doping test in September 2018 that has now seen Sun banned twice.
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China’s swim star Sun Yang to miss Tokyo Olympics despite doping-ban reduction
China’s swim star Sun Yang to miss Tokyo Olympics despite doping-ban reduction
September 4, 2018 – The doping control company IDTM claim that Sun Yang “violently resisted the inspection” with allegations of damaged vials at an out-of-competition test at his home in Hangzhou.
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