Chinese swimmer, Sun Yang, is probably biting his nails down to the quick this week as he awaits the verdict on his appeal, held in Switzerland in November last year which, following another delay, is set to deliver its verdict on March 3.
The appeal came about because the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decided to lodge it with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following Sun Yang being cleared by swimming’s international federation on a technicality, despite Sun Yang admitting he had destroyed his own blood sample at an out-of-competition drug test at his home in China in 2018. Normally, such an action by a sportsperson would result in a lengthy, automatic ban on competition.
The verdict has been delayed over issues arising from the unreliable interpreter provided by Sun Yang’s legal representatives and the call for the transcripts of the translation, which apparently included some confusing testimony by Sun Yang, was agreed to by lawyers from both sides of the argument. Richard Young, WADA’s lead attorney, described the testimony as “monumentally evasive”. Personally, I believe the deliberately destroyed blood sample should have sealed the Chinese swimmer’s fate right there and then (why destroy his own sample if it was clean?) and would be interested to know just what the “technicality” was that cleared him and allowed him to continue competing. But the evasive testimony is ringing alarm bells. People with nothing to hide don’t give evasive testimony. Or throw temper tantrums when someone questions their place in international sporting events.
Thing is, despite his golden boy status in China, this is his second doping offence and if the CAS verdict goes against him it will herald the end of his swimming career, as he will be looking at an eight-year ban, and eight years on the sidelines is something he is unlikely to be able to come back from. Plus he will be stripped of any prizemoney and medals he has won after September 18. If that happens, Australian swimmer, Mack Horton, will be moved up to the title of World Champion, as he had come in second to Sun Yang in the 2019 titles in South Korea.
Which means Mack Horton will be vindicated. The bad blood between the two athletes erupted four years ago at the Rio Olympics when Horton called Sun out as a drug cheat prior to their clash in the 400 metre Freestyle event. Horton won. Then came the 2019 FINA World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, where Horton objected to Sun being allowed to compete. Horton came in second and then refused to take the podium with Sun for the medals ceremony as a protest to Sun being allowed into the Championships.
Horton has a spotless record as a clean athlete, which is a good thing, seeing as he is such a gifted swimmer (and one of ours). His protest against Sun Yang cost him a lucrative potential sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola and subjected him, his family and girlfriend to abuse from Sun Yang’s supporters. Any businesses, institutions or sponsors associated with him copped the flack.
But the real kicker has come from his school, Caulfield Grammar in Melbourne. A former graduate, Mack Horton is the school’s first Olympic champion and the plan was to name the school’s new $25 million aquatic centre after him, but following the fall-out after his protest in Korea against Sun Yang, who remains one of China’s most celebrated athletes despite the drug offences, the school has done a backflip. This is really wrong.
Caulfield Grammar is heavily dependent on keeping up good relations with China. It has a campus in Mainland China and sends groups of its Year 9 students to its Nanjing boarding facility to participate in five-week language and immersion programmes. Chinese children make up a large number of the student body at the school’s secondary campus in Wheelers Hill, in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Former federal government minister, Kelly O’Dwyer, who was part of the team that worked to secure a free trade agreement with China, joined the school’s council in December. Well, that’s interesting. But that the school would choose to placate China, over their former graduate, doesn’t go down well with me, and I’m sure I’m not the only one having an issue with it.
Anyway, the verdict on Sun’s appeal is due to come out next week and I think Mack Horton is as keen to hear it as Sun Yang, but for very different reasons. Horton’s protest was as genuine as it was justified. Sun Yang is a drug cheat. But if the verdict goes against Sun, will the school change it’s mind, again, about naming that pool? And will Mack Horton accept the “honour” if it does? I won’t blame him if he doesn’t.
He’s deserves better than that.