‘Above the rules’: Hong Kong’s Geoffrey Cheah wades into doping row with swipe at Sun Yang
Hong Kong’s Geoffrey Cheah won his heat at the Rio Olympics and then felt the need to unburden himself of issues that have been troubling him – also taking a swipe at China for allowing their star swimmer Sun Yang to continue competing after a doping suspension.
Hong Kong’s Geoffrey Cheah won his heat at the Rio Olympics and then felt the need to unburden himself of issues that have been troubling him – also taking a swipe at China for allowing their star swimmer Sun Yang to continue competing after a doping suspension.
Cheah, whose father’s cancer has affected his build-up to the Rio Games, won an Asian Games bronze in 2014 but never stood on the podium. He only received his medal after South Korean Park Tae-hwan was caught cheating.
“I feel pretty sad that it feels like people don’t respect the doping rules,” said Cheah, who clocked 22.46 seconds in his 50m freestyle heat but was unable to reach the next round. “They feel like they’re above the rules.
“Also, I don’t see how it’s acceptable that [China’s] Sun Yang can serve a three-month secret suspension and show up at the Asian Games and Olympics as if everything is fine. You can’t even train during suspensions.”