Disgraced Chinese swimmer Sun Yang eyes competitive return ‘as soon as possible’ as 4-year drugs ban ends
- Sun was originally handed an eight-year suspension by the World Anti-Doping Agency but had it reduced on appeal
- The three-time Olympic champion will not be able to compete at the Paris Games this summer
Disgraced three-time Olympic champion Sun Yang hopes to return to competitive swimming “as soon as possible” after his more than four-year ban for a doping violation ended on Tuesday.
The Chinese freestyler was originally suspended for eight years by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) in 2020 for smashing vials of blood during a 2018 test, the circumstances of which he still disputes.
The ban was reduced on appeal to four years and three months by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2021.
“I hope that I’ll be able to pick a competition and return to the starting block as soon as possible,” the 32-year-old said in a state media interview.
Sun’s return comes with China’s swimmers under intense scrutiny since it emerged that Wada allowed 23 of them to compete at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, despite testing positive for a banned substance.
The agency accepted China’s explanation that the swimmers unwittingly consumed the substance through food at their hotel.