Opinion | Sun Yang’s mother hammers home the point that parenting elite sports stars needs a little crazy
- Swimmer and security guard smashed blood vials at mother’s request, according to reports
- Tennis prodigy Wu Yibing splits with coach and trainer calls out teen’s mother on Twitter
It’s been quite the week for the parents of Chinese athletes, with a couple of hammer blows to their reputations.
Sun Yang’s mother, Yang Ming, has been pushed front and centre in the swimmer’s bizarre doping scandal.
Reports emerging from the Fina investigation into the swimmer’s unusual behaviour at a late night out-of-competition test at his home last September suggest that it was his mother who led the strangest of Sun’s decisions.
Yang is the one who ordered a security guard to bring a hammer into the room acting as a doping control station where vials of her son’s blood were already stashed in a secure box.
Sun’s security guard failed to break into the container and Yang then told him to take the box outside, where the guard and Sun got it open, took out the vials and smashed them with said hammer.
It’s a sordid episode for a national hero and proof that nothing good happens after 2am. It’s also made headline news around the world. And it seems even more bizarre because Yang is a sports coach.