Sun Yang scandal: who gets the disgraced Chinese swimmer’s medals if he is stripped of his titles?

A United States Anti-Doping Agency chief executive has added his name to a growing list of people calling for Sun to have his medals taken away

The question now is: how far back could this go, given Sun has won dozens of medals over the past 10 years?

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Sun Yang with Duncan Scott, Martin Malyutin and Katsuhiro Matsumoto at the medal ceremony at the 2019 world championships. Photo: AP

Published: 8:00am, 6 Mar 2020Updated: 8:11am, 6 Mar 2020

United States Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart has added his name to the growing chorus of people who feel disgraced Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, who was banned for eight years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for a doping violation in 2018, should have his medals stripped.

The most prominent event in which multiple people, including international swimmers, are calling for him to be stripped of, is Sun’s two gold medals (200m freestyle and the 400m freestyle) at the 2019 International Swimming Federation World Aquatics Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.

Fina vice-president Matt Dunn told The Sydney Morning Herald it would be “open” to looking into the matter, but it will wait until the appeal process is over. Sun’s lawyer stated he has 30 days to appeal the ruling, which was handed down on February 28. Sun said he will “definitely” appeal the verdict.

The CAS ruling can be overturned by the Swiss Federal Tribunal but successful appeals are rare. The 28-year-old said he “firmly” believes in his innocence. Swimming Australia chairman John Bertrand said if and when Sun’s appeal is denied they will lobby Fina to revisit this decision and erase Yang from the Gwangju records.

A number of Sun Yang’s wins have now been called into question. Photo: AP

Sun won the 200m freestyle in South Korea in a time of 1:44.93 and if stripped of that medal the gold would go to Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto. The gold would be the first international one for the 23-year-old, who won two golds at the 2018 Asian Games in the 400m and 800m freestyle relays.