Chinese swimming star Sun Yang was suspended eight years this Friday by the Arbitration Court of Sport (TAS) for having smashed a sample during a doping control out of competition in September 2018.
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Three-time Olympic champion in London 2012 and Rio 2016, and winner of eleven world titles between 2011 and 2019, Sun Yang, 28 and considered one of the great stars of Chinese sport, had appeared on November 15 at a public hearing before the TAS.
An explosive report by the International Swimming Federation (Fina) anti-doping committee, written in January 2019, had confirmed that the swimmer had destroyed his own blood sample in September 2018 with a hammer in a surprise control.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA) had filed an appeal with the TAS after the International Swimming Federation (Fine) acquitted Sun Yang for a vice of form, which had allowed the 27-year-old swimmer to participate in the World Cup from Gwangju, in South Korea, at the end of July 2019, where several rivals had expressed their dissatisfaction with their presence.
The swimmer may file an appeal with the Swiss federal court and request that his suspension not be executed until a final decision is made. Sun Yang could be suspended for two to eight years, and had already been sanctioned with three months after testing positive for a stimulant (trimetazidine) in 2014.
* See the full text of the TAS ruling (in English) .
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