After a four-year and three-month ban, Sun Yang finally regained his status as an official player. For the 33-year-old, who turns 33 this year, there is a big question mark over whether he will be able to return to the top of the tournament after not being able to appear in the pool for the past few years.
The only Olympic World Slam champion in the history of world swimming in the men's 200m freestyle, men's 400m freestyle, and men's 1500m freestyle, the only men's 400m freestyle world champion in history to win four consecutive world championships, and the only men's 800m freestyle world championship three times in a row...... Sun Yang's career is brilliant enough, and it is his driving force that allows the Chinese swimmers to gradually row to the center of the pool.
孙杨（资料图） 图据IC photo
He was banned for 8 years
Later, the appeal was successful due to discrimination by the chairman of the arbitration panel
The 51-month ban, which began on February 28, 2020, was "devastating" for Sun Yang, who was preparing for the Tokyo Olympics at the time. In fact, the Court of Arbitration for Sport held its first hearing on Sun Yang's doping case in November 2019, and three judges imposed an eight-year ban on Sun Yang, almost ending Sun Yang's career as an athlete. On February 28, 2020, Sun Yang appealed the judgment to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.
According to the court gazette, Sun Yang pointed out in his application for appeal that an article he noticed on an internet platform in mid-May 2020 showed that Fratini, the chairman of the arbitration panel in the case of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, was biased and discriminatory. The article included a series of statements made by Frattini on his personal social media platform about animal protection between 2018 and 2019, in which he used discriminatory language against Chinese. According to sources, when Sun Yang's mother came forward to defend her son at the first hearing, Fratini also openly ridiculed, "What a 'strong' witness, hahaha." ”
Subsequently, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court held that Sun Yang's investigation was in compliance with the evidence. By investigating the rhetoric, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court found that a series of violent statements by the chairman of the arbitration panel, some of which explicitly pointed to the color of Chinese. Moreover, some of the problematic statements were made even after he had been appointed chairman of the arbitration panel in the Sun Yang case. As a result, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court upheld Sun Yang's challenge to the impartiality of the panel's chairmanship and revoked the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ban.
After the Swiss Federal Supreme Court dismissed the case, the Court of Arbitration for Sport needed to reorganize a new professional and impartial arbitration panel to hear Sun Yang's case and issue a new judgment. The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced that three judges from Switzerland, France and Belgium had been selected to retry the case.
On November 15, 2019 local time, Sun Yang attended a public hearing of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Montreux, Switzerland, and fought for his innocence
The members of the arbitration panel at the second hearing were completely different from those at the first hearing, but the new panel still found that Sun Yang's reckless behavior, in particular the refusal to allow the person who took the blood to collect the sample, led to the suspension of the doping test on September 4-5, 2018.
On 22 June 2021, the Court of Arbitration for Sport announced its decision, reducing Sun Yang's ban from 8 years to 4 years and 3 months, starting on 28 February 2020. In this way, Sun Yang's ban will end on May 28, 2024.
When will he officially return after missing out on the Paris Olympics?
The Greater Bay Area National Games may set off another pool heat wave
On April 24, Sun Yang's studio posted a video on its social media, showing Sun Yang's infinite anticipation for returning to the pool.
"Going into the water is the best start, insist on hard work, have the courage to challenge, and eventually break through yourself. There is love, there is expectation. ”
Although he has not been able to compete in the official competition for more than four years, although he missed the time to qualify for the Paris Olympics, and although he will turn 33 by the end of this year, Sun Yang still maintains his yearning for the pool and the expectation of returning to the spotlight. His form is unknown due to the lack of formal training and competition for a long time, but at the peak of his career, he performed well from the 200m to the 1500m, and he has excellent coverage in all events. Compared with his peak physical fitness and cardiopulmonary fitness, Sun Yang's current situation is bound to decline, but the recovery period of short-distance speed explosiveness can be quickly shortened through intensive training, and he still has the opportunity to hit the podium in the domestic arena in short-middle distance events such as 200 meters.
Screenshot of Weibo posted by Sun Yang's studio on May 28
At present, Sun Yang has resumed official training, and the National Swimming Summer Championships at the end of August may be his first competition appearance after his comeback. After missing out on two consecutive Olympic Games, it is almost difficult for Sun Yang to set his sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, but next year will usher in the important task of the Greater Bay Area National Games (the 15th National Games in 2025 will be held in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau, which will be the first time that Hong Kong and Macau will participate in hosting the National Games, and the first time that the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area will host a large-scale comprehensive sports event as a whole). If he can return to his normal level by then, it will be difficult for the team to exclude such a veteran from the squad.
Sun Yang has resumed formal training
Red Star News reporter Pei Han
Edited by Cheng Li
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