In this week’s look at all the latest news in the build-up to the 2022 Olympics and elsewhere:
- Chinese swimmer gets ban of 4 years and 3 months at doping retrial
- Soccer star Li Ying comes out as lesbian
- IOC member hails China’s winter sports progress with some dubious stats
- Commemorative stamps released for 2022 Winter Olympics venues
- Golfers set for Tokyo, Zhang makes history at Wimbledon
- The latest 2022 Olympics boycott talk from around the world
- All the other features and stories of interest
Sun Yang Given 51-Month Ban for Doping Violations
The verdict has been handed down – yet again – in the Sun Yang doping trial and the star Chinese swimmer, who’s arguably the country’s biggest active Olympic athlete, has received a ban of 4 years and 3 months (read the first section here for a quick summary of the case), with the start of the ban backdated to February 2020. Clearly, that rules him out of the Tokyo Olympics, but the length of the ban is very interesting indeed, because it expires just weeks before the 2024 Paris Olympics are set to start – and it appears a mistake has been made on this particular point.
CAS has only put out a press release at this point, not the whole written ruling, so the assumption is that the findings in Sun’s retrial were similar to the first case. He’s again been found guilty of two things: 1) “evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection by an athlete” [i.e. because the testers left without a sample] and 2) “tampering or alleged tampering with any part of doping control by an athlete or other person” [i.e. because Sun/team smashed the casing of a blood vial with a hammer].
Timeline:
- Sept 2018: Testers visit Sun at home, in incident which ended in smashed casing of blood sample.
- Jan 2019: World swimming governing body FINA says it won’t sanction Sun Yang.
- Mar 2019: World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appeals FINA decision, case referred to Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
- Nov 2019: Initial CAS hearing, streamed online.
- Feb 2020: CAS gives Sun Yang 8-year ban.
- Jul 2020: Sun appeals to Swiss Federal Tribunal (SFT).
- Dec 2020: SFT overturns the ban, sends case back to CAS.
- May 2021: CAS hears case for second time, behind closed doors.
- Jun 2021: CAS bans Sun Yang for 51 months.
Previously, a second offense results in an automatic ban of eight years, which is what the first tribunal ruled, even though they noted at the time it was somewhat harsh. However, a new doping code came into effect this year, which allows more flexibility in the ruling, and it appears that the second tribunal applied the new code. But, according to some anti-doping experts – including Bjorn Hessert from the University of Zurich in this webinar earlier this week – the retrial should have adhered to the original code, meaning Sun’s ban would have lasted until Feb 2028.
We’re getting into some pretty detailed legal squabbles here, but the result is that Sun Yang will be out for a while due to this latest doping ban decision, and may very well retire before he has a chance to come back in 2024. That’s a win for his opponents, but the fact that the door is still open for an Olympic return means there’s a silver lining for his supporters, too.
That silver lining is possibly why reaction has been somewhat muted in China, although Sun’s lawyer Zhang Qihuai claimed his client is a “victim of political posturing”:
“I can only say forever: Sun Yang did not violate the rules and there were no violations detected in the results [from doping tests]. Unfortunately for China and even the world, such an excellent athlete has fallen into the hands of international organizations manipulated by some people.”
Objectively, that’s nonsense. Whatever irregularities existed with the doping officers, Sun broke the rules, which are clear. If you let an athlete off on those grounds, you open the floodgates to all sorts of violations. You cannot allow athletes to take matters into their own hands, which is effectively what Sun Yang did in this case.
Despite a somewhat understated ending to this case, it’s still a high profile decision and several athletes have commented publicly.
Olympic champion breaststroker Adam Peaty, who has broken a world record 13 times, tweeted (see above) that it should have been a “lifetime ban”. Peaty’s tweet was also shared American Lilly King – another Olympic breaststroke champion – who has also been outspoken about Sun Yang in the past.
Former NBA star Andrew Bogut also tweeted “Sun Yang the Goat!!! #nsml”. While readers may be familiar with GOAT referring to the “greatest of all time” – firmly tongue-in-cheek in Bogut’s case – many won’t know the Chinese internet slang “nmsl”, short for “ni ma si le”, or “your mother is dead”, an insult which is much ruder in Chinese than in translation.
Sun Yang clashed with Australian rival Mack Horton at the Rio Olympics in 2016, leading thousands of Chinese net users to attack Horton online, with “nmsl” among the insults used, so this made news back in Australia, from where Bogut also hails. In other words, it’s a classic bit of trolling from Bogut, although Chinese internet warriors don’t seem to have taken the bait this time. Ironically, Horton missed out on making the Olympic squad at the Australian trials, so he won’t be going to Tokyo, either.
Chinese Soccer Star Comes Out as Lesbian
Li Ying, a member of the Chinese women’s national soccer team, has made history as the first high-profile Chinese athlete to come out as a lesbian. Li revealed on Weibo this week that she was celebrating a one-year anniversary with her girlfriend, influencer Chen Leilei, though later deleted the post after receiving a fair amount of abuse online.
I’ve written about Li Ying before, in reference not only to her talent, but her tattoos, which she’s had to cover up when playing for the national team. Speaking of the national team, she’s played for China 100 times, scoring 30 goals, but hasn’t featured in more than a year. [SPECULATION ALERT] It’s possible, of course, that she’s had injuries or is out of form, but given that she’s only 28 and should be in her prime, you have to wonder if a combination of tattoo and extra curricular activities haven’t contributed to her fall from national team grace.
Samaranch Makes Up Some Numbers
IOC member Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr says participation in snow and ice sports is growing in China, putting the country on track to meet a key goal included in its bid to host the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Samaranch Jr., who oversees preparations for the Beijing Games, said more than 200 million Chinese “have engaged in ice and snow activities” in the five years since the Chinese capital became the first city to win the rights to host both the summer and winter Olympic games. “We welcome these news,” Samaranch said at an online news conference.
“It means Beijing 2022 is approaching its objective of engaging 300 million Chinese people in winter sports.”
I’ve written before about what exactly “engaging” in winter sports might entail, but honestly they’re just making up numbers here. I don’t know why I even try and fight it any more. 200 million? Sure! 300 million? Why not?
Stamps of Approval
It wouldn’t be an Olympics without commemorative stamps and Beijing 2022 has released another set – this time of the competition venues. There are a handful of individual feature-sized stamps, plus a set of 8 small ones on a sheet. The four venues on the sheet are (from left to right) the Shougang Ski Jumping Platform, the National Aquatics Center (which will host curling), the National Ski Jumping Center and the National Sliding Center. The stamps are already being sold on eBay.
Golf and Tennis Developments
Chinese golfer Carl Yuan Yechun will compete in his first Olympic Games in Tokyo next month, but to do so he’ll have to put his PGA Tour dreams on hold for now. He is currently ranked 27th on the second-tier Korn Ferry Tour points list, with the top 25 players at the end of the regular season in August graduating onto the PGA Tour. Another 25 PGA Tour cards will be available in the Korn Ferry Tour Finals later in the year. Yuan overtook Li Haotong last month to become China’s number 1.
For some unknown reason, Yuan has just flown back to China this week to the national training base in Nanshan in Guangdong, where he will have to undergo quarantine. Why that will improve his preparations is anyone’s guess. China is currently the longest of long shots to win a medal in men’s golf, with Yuan (world ranking #291) and Wu Ashun (#315) qualifying in 57th and 59th place respectively on the 60-man Olympic entry list.
Meanwhile, Chinese tennis player Zhang Zhizhen made history this week by becoming the first Chinese man to make the main draw at Wimbledon in the Open Era. Zhang beat Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in four sets in the final round of qualifying to reach his first major main draw. This was the World No. 178’s fourth attempt to qualify for a Grand Slam. Zhang will be the fourth Chinese man to compete in a major singles main draw in the Open Era – but the first to do so on Wimbledon’s grass courts.
Olympic Boycott Watch
The headline quote this week comes from Texas Senator Ted Cruz, who, in contrast to a number of other Republicans, says that the US should not boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics, but should instead “kick their commie asses.” Classy.
Activists – including ethnic Uyghurs and Tibetans – protested outside the Olympic Museum in Lausanne this week to call for a boycott of the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, in an event timed to coincide with the annual Olympic Day. Meanwhile, a small crowd marched across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco to draw attention to the #NoBeijing2022 campaign, with organizers saying there were 50 other similar marches worldwide, including in five cities in Australia.
In the US, campaigners have delivered a letter to NBC in Boston urging the broadcaster to cancel plans to show the 2022 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games in Beijing over human rights concerns, with more than 200 rights groups signing the letter. NBC will, of course, ignore them, but that’s the tone of the discussion at the moment, and it’s continuing to get a certain amount of coverage, too.
Other Stories and Links
- 2022 Winter Olympics Exhibition: From Lake Placid to Beijing [Exhibition website]
- TikTok Rival Kuaishou Wins Rights to Tokyo and Beijing Olympics [Caixin Global]
- Nike chief executive says brand is ‘of China and for China’ [Financial Times]
- 1984 L.A. Olympics were a catalyst for sports in China [Trojans Wire]
- Australia to send “very committed” team to Beijing Winter Olympics [Xinhua]
- China Tower deploys over 100 5G base stations for Beijing 2022 [RCR Wireless News]
- Lindsey Vonn talks mental health, strain of Olympics [USA Today]
- Chinese companies sign up for Euro 2020 soccer sponsorships in a bid to go global [CNBC]
To keep up-to-date with all the latest news from China Sports Insider, please click on the “SUBSCRIBE” button in the top right corner of this page (or see below on mobile version). Follow along on Twitter for regular updates.
6 thoughts on “Sun Yang Banned for 4+ Years, Will Miss Tokyo Olympics”