Sun Yang snubbed for ‘obvious reasons’, says mainland media as he loses Zhejiang provincial award to fellow swimmer Xu Jiayu
- Sun wins two gold medals at world championships but the 2019 Zhejiang province best men’s athlete title goes to Xu, who has one world gold
- The most decorated Chinese swimmer is appealing to overturn an eight-year ban for a doping offence
Sun, who claimed golds in the men’s 200m and 400m freestyle, was deemed inferior to Xu, the 100m backstroke world champion, with mainland media saying the decision was made because of “obvious reasons”.
In September 2018, the 28-year-old Sun was subjected to an out-of-competition doping test at his home in the Zhejiang capital of Hangzhou. It was reported that a security guard, on Sun’s orders, smashed a case containing the sample vials, accusing the testers of not being qualified to conduct the tests.
Swimming governing body Fina, after an inquiry, ruled that Sun had not committed any doping violations.
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The controversial swimmer is the most decorated Chinese athlete in the sport. He is the first male swimmer to win an Olympic gold for China at the 2012 London Games, where he won the 400m and 1,500m freestyle races. He also won the 200m freestyle in the Rio Games four years later. At the world championships, Sun has 11 titles.
However, he had also been snubbed by the authorities for the same annual award twice before.
In 2013, Sun, then a treble winner at the world championships, was taken into police custody for seven days for driving without a licence. He was also suspended for all training and commercial activities after being accused of repeatedly violating team regulations.
The following year, Sun was suspended for three months by the Chinese Anti-Doping Committee – almost missing the Asian Games in Incheon – because of a doping offence. He later won three gold medals at the continental competition.
Star Chinese swimmer Sun Yang banned for eight years for doping offences
From 2015, Sun won Zhejiang’s best men’s athlete title four times in a row.
The 2019 award winners were announced late because of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to mainland media.
Badminton player Chen Yufei, winner of the women’s singles at the 2019 World Tour final, was named the province’s best female athlete, while badminton mixed doubles world number one pair, Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong, won the best team award.
