The Week That Was: Sun Yang Re-Trial Ends; Major Japanese Newspaper Calls For Olympic Cancellation

Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

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The re-trial of Olympic gold medalist and world record holder Sun Yang concluded this week as a verdict on his eligibility for the Tokyo Olympic Games this summer will be expected by the end of June. Swimming at the Olympic Games will start July 24.

A major Japanese newspaper has also called for the cancellation of the Tokyo Olympics due to the rising amount of COVID-19 cases in Japan.

Read the five biggest stories of the week in The Week That Was sponsored by Suitmate.

The Week That Was #1: Sun Yang Re-Trial Ends; Verdict Expected Before Olympics

Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By John Lohn

The doping retrial of Chinese superstar Sun Yang in front of the Court of Arbitration for Sport came to a conclusion on Thursday, following two days of closed-door testimony. A spokesperson for the CAS indicated that a date for a verdict has not been determined, but it will be made before the end of June. That timeframe guarantees that Sun’s eligibility will be known prior to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Sun was originally found guilty of violating anti-doping rules and given an eight-year ban, but the Olympic-champion freestyler appealed the verdict to the Swiss Federal Tribunal. The Swiss court ruled that a member of the three-person CAS panel, Franco Frattini, made biased comments on social media and sent the case back to the Court of Arbitration for Sport for retrial.

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 to conduct testing. During the late-night dispute, a vial of Sun’s blood was smashed with a hammer by a member of Sun’s team.

#2: Major Japanese Newspaper Calls For Cancellation of Tokyo Olympics

Photo Courtesy:

By John Lohn

One of Japan’s largest newspapers, the Asahi Shimbun, has called on the Japanese government to cancel this summer’s Olympic Games in Tokyo, due to the COVID-19 pandemic and rising cases of Coronavirus across the country. In its editorial, the newspaper called on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga to cancel the Games, since a state of emergency is already in effect in Tokyo, and is likely to be extended.

According to polls, as much as 80% of the citizens of Tokyo want the Olympic Games canceled, out of fear of greater spread of COVID-19 and out of concern that attention to the Games will draw away from fighting the pandemic. Tokyo, among other cities, has recently experience spikes in COVID-19 cases, and fewer than four percent of the country is vaccinated.

“We don’t think it makes sense to hold the Olympics and Paralympics in Tokyo this summer,” the newspaper wrote in its editorial, according to Inside the Games. “The distrust and opposition to the rushing Government, capital and Olympic officials is only widespread, without trying to address people’s natural questions and concerns. We urge Prime Minister Suga to calmly and objectively assess the surrounding situation and decide to cancel the event this summer.”

The International Olympic Committee has repeatedly stated that it can host a safe Games and is taking precautions to ensure that athletes, coaches, officials and media are able to compete and work without fear of becoming infected by COVID-19.

The Week That Was #3: Summer McIntosh Drops 4:05 400 free Just Before Canada’s Olympic Trials

Photo Courtesy: Swim Ontario

By Swimming World

Canada has a teenager following a similar performance arc to Katie Ledecky during an Olympic year, with 14-year-old Summer McIntosh clocking a time of 4:05.13 in the 400 freestyle during Thursday competition at the Toronto High-Performance Center Test Event.

Ahead of the Canadian Olympic Trials, which are set for next month, McIntosh is opening eyes around the world. Last month, she went 1:57.65 in the 200 freestyle and 16:15.19 in the 1500 freestyle. However, her 4:05 from Thursday in the 400 freestyle marked a 10-second drop from her personal best, evidence of the rapid improvements that can be seen in young teenage phenoms.

With impressive range from the 200 through the 1500, McIntosh is in position to be a key contributor to Canada at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. Her performance of 4:05 at this point in the season, coupled with her improvement curve, suggests something faster is around the corner and contention at the Olympics is not out of the question.

#4: Swedish Swimming Names Four More to Olympic Team

Michelle Coleman qualified for her third Olympics. Photo Courtesy: Becca Wyant

By Andy Ross

The Swedish Olympic Committee announced four more swimmers to its Olympic Team for this summer’s Games in Tokyo that are 59 days away. After the results of the recent European Championships in Budapest, Sophie Hansson (100 breast), Michelle Coleman (50 free), Emelie Fast (100 breast) and Robin Hanson (200 free) have been selected to represent Sweden this summer in Tokyo.

These four swimmers, along with a women’s 4×100 free and 4×100 medley relay, will join Sarah Sjostrom, Louise Hansson and Erik Persson on the plane to Japan as they were pre-selected for the team before the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Week That Was #5: Lia Neal Announces Retirement

Photo Courtesy: Mine Kasapoglu / ISL

By David Rieder

Lia Neal has been making history for almost a decade, as the second African American female swimmer to qualify for a U.S. Olympic team and win an Olympic medal and the first to accomplish those feats twice. Neal has also swum at three World Championships, winning two relay gold medals in 2017. But after a decade among the elite sprinters in the United States, Neal has decided to retire from competitive swimming.

Neal told Swimming World that when the country shut down at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, she left her training base in San Diego and returned home to New York. At first, she tried to stay in shape, hoping that life would return to normal relatively quickly and the 2020 Olympic Trials would go on as planned.

“But the pandemic was getting worse, and I realized we weren’t getting back in anytime soon,” Neal said. “It kind of made me realize that with the time and space that we all had to be more introspective, that I’m totally fine being done. There wasn’t a dire need to get back in and race anytime soon.”

As Neal reflected on her decision and her swimming career, she explained that the pandemic-induced layoff allowed her to step back from the grueling, four-year cycle of swimming that stressed the Olympics above all else. Neal gained a different and broader perspective on swimming and life, which helped her come to her decision.

“I had been feeling kind of on the outs with swimming for a few years, but I think in swimming, and being an athlete, we’re trained to always persevere,” Neal said. “That mentality kept me in this sport a little bit longer, and I didn’t realize that I had outgrown the sport at a certain point.”

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