China’s Sun Yang faces life ban for smashing blood samples in front of anti-doping testers: report

Lawyers representing Chinese swimmer Sun Yang have responded to the allegations in The Sunday Times that he faces a lifetime ban for his treatment of anti-doping officials.

The Global Times reported on their Twitter account that Sun’s Beijing-based lawyers, Beijing Lanpeng Law Firm, said “that @thesundaytimes has dubious motives and severely infringed Sun’s privacy and reputation after publishing a story alleging that Sun had destroyed blood samples in front of anti-doping testers”.

This was published on Sunday afternoon (Beijing time) in response to the earlier report from England.

The statement from Sun’s lawyer, Zhang Qihuai, also threatened legal action against the UK newspaper after its remarkable report.

“We reserve the right to file a lawsuit against the relevant international media which reports the incident,” it said.

Sun, who has been called the “greatest freestyle swimmer of all time” on account of being the only man to win Olympic gold in the 200m, 400m, and 1,500m freestyle, has been accused of taking matters into his own hands with drug testers at an out-of-competition test at his home in September last year.

The report alleges Sun and his team destroyed blood samples in front of anti-doping testers, with a hammer used to smash a vial containing the swimmer’s blood at the demand of the swimmer’s mother.

This was the most dramatic of the revelations in the report, which also included Sun’s team keeping testers waiting before questioning their legitimacy and leaving the control room to pass urine.

A Fina doping panel ruled in favour of the swimmer earlier this month, after stating that they would “never know” what happened, but Wada is said to be considering taking the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The 27-year-old swimming star is no stranger to controversy.

He was banned for doping in 2014 and was handed a week’s detention a year earlier for crashing a car that he was driving without a permit.

In the aftermath of the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Sun’s fellow swimmers tore into the gold medallist and world record holder for his history of doping.

Australia’s Mack Horton called Sun a “drugs cheat” while French swimmer Camille Lacourt said the Chinese champion “p***** purple”.

Horton, who clashed with Sun in the 400m final, was rounded upon by Chinese media and social media users at the time, but defended his actions at the Commonwealth Games last year.

“I guess I’m proud of how I handled myself in Rio,” he said on Australia’s Gold Coast.

“I think athletes know what they’re doing and they know that they’re responsible for what goes into their bodies.”

Fina has previously been condemned for its approach to anti-doping by swimmers. Michael Jamieson, who won silver in the 200m backstroke for Britain at the London 2012 Olympics, called Fina out in an interview with The Guardian in 2017.

“I think the way Fina have conducted themselves the last couple of years is an absolute disgrace,” he said.

“To see the executive director of Fina embracing Sun Yang on the poolside at the Rio Olympics?

“How do you tackle that?”

Australia’s former anti-doping chief, Richard Ings, wrote on Twitter that “Sun Yang is toast.”

Early on Sunday the Times story had not yet appeared on Chinese sports media outlets, with the latest news regarding Sun concerning his winter training routine and whether he will sing at CCTV’s Spring Festival Gala.

It has since been reported on Sina Sports.

Sun had said the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo would be his last, but if these latest revelations are proven, the 27-year-old will likely never swim again.