Chinese social media slams swimmer Sun Yang as he misses Paris Olympics – ‘bad character’

Once heralded for being China’s first men’s swimmer to win Olympic gold, Sun Yang’s fall from grace continued on Thursday as he was slammed by fans for the actions that saw him banned from the sport for four years.

Sun was suspended for eight years in 2020 for a doping violation following an incident with drug testing officers at his home in China, during which Sun’s entourage smashed vials containing his blood. His ban was reduced to four years on appeal.

It had been hinted that Sun – the first man in history to win Olympic or World Championship gold at every freestyle distance from 200 to 1,500 metres – could return for this year’s Paris Olympics after his suspension, which ended last month.

But Sun, now 32, missed the Olympic trials and was not named when China announced its swimming roster on Tuesday.

That, however, did not stop the hashtag “Sun Yang’s Olympic dream shattered” becoming one of the hottest on Weibo, with more than 75 million views as of Thursday.

Some pointed out there was no dream to shatter, after China ruled out selecting for Paris any swimmer who had served a doping-related ban longer than a year, but many took the opportunity to throw jabs at Sun.