Olympic Fate of Sun Yang To Be Decided By CAS in Late May

Yang Sun of China walks in before competing in the men's 1500m Freestyle Final during the Swimming competition held at the Aquatics Center during the London 2012 Olympic Games in London, Great Britain, Saturday, Aug. 4, 2012. (Photo by Patrick B. Kraemer / MAGICPBK)

Olympic Fate of Sun Yang To Be Decided By CAS in Late May

The future of Sun Yang in the sport and the possibility of the Chinese swimmer racing at this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo will be determined in late May. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced on Wednesday that Sun’s appeal of his eight-year ban for his conduct during a 2018 out-of-competition doping test.

Sun was initially found guilty by the CAS and handed an eight-year ban, but the Olympic champion appealed the ruling to the Swiss Federal Tribunal, citing that one of the panel’s three judges was biased. As a result, the case was sent back to the CAS, which will use a new three-member panel in rehearing the case. The dates announced are May 24-28.

“In light of the travel restrictions and sanitary measures in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the hearing will be held by video conference,” CAS indicated. “At the conclusion of the hearing, the panel will commence its deliberations and prepare the arbitral award. Accordingly, the decision will not be announced when the hearing concludes, but at a later date.”

The case stems from an out-of-competition test in September 2018 in which Sun got into arguments with testers and accused them of not having the proper credentials. During the late-night dispute, a vial of Sun’s blood was smashed with a hammer by a member of Sun’s team.

If the second hearing by the CAS goes in favor of Sun, he will able to compete at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Sun is the reigning Olympic champion in the 200 freestyle.

The complete release by CAS can be found here.

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