Sun Yang aims to return to competition after doping suspension ends
Sun Yang, China's Olympic gold medallist, who was banned for four years for doping, is set to return to swimming once his suspension is over.
Yang's suspension ended on May 28. Yang, who won gold medals in the 400m freestyle and 1,500m freestyle at the London Olympics and gold medal in the 200m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, said in an interview with Chinese state media: paper He is aiming to return.
“I hope to be able to choose a sport as soon as possible and get back to the starting line,” the 32-year-old said, according to AFP.
Sun was banned for eight years in 2020 for breaking a vial of blood during a test in 2018. The Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced the ban to four years in 2021. According to selection criteria previously set by China, Sun should not have a chance to compete for a spot on China's team for this summer's Paris Olympics, which would have been decided after selection in April. (The qualifying period usually lasts until late June.)
But Son has returned to training, so he didn't think it would be a big loss for him.
“The Olympics for me is just a competition. The Olympics are over and after they're over there's another Olympics,” he said. “Now that I'm back in training, I do mock competition tests often. I'm constantly trying to get that feeling back.”
Sun's return to competition comes against the backdrop of another major doping controversy erupting in China. In early 2021, the China Anti-Doping Agency exonerated 23 swimmers who tested positive for trimetazidine just months before the Tokyo Olympics, and the World Anti-Doping Agency agreed. Some of that group went on to win medals in Tokyo after being found guilty of environmental contamination.
The 11-time world champion will have a chance to compete on the world stage if he can regain the form he was in before the suspension. The 2025 World Aquatics Championships will be in Asia, hosted by Singapore, and the short-course world championships are scheduled for Budapest at the end of 2024.
In the interview, Sun shook off the long-term impacts of her suspension, including her marriage to a fellow gymnast. Zhang Bean Bean.
“Looking back on it, it doesn't seem like a big deal,” he said. “In fact, the biggest change in those four years was starting a family and having another child. Those four years have enriched my life.”
