Chinese Swimmer Sun Yang Banned From Olympics After Being Found Guilty Of Doping

Sun Yang will NOT be going to the Olympic Games in Tokyo.

The Chinese swimmer was slapped with a monster ban of four years and three months after he was found guilty of breaching anti-doping violations.

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It's understood The Court of Arbitration for Sport came to a decision after a three-day retrial, concluding that Sun Yang had acted "recklessly in "evading, refusing or failing to submit to sample collection".

It's also said that he was involved in "tampering or alleged tampering with any part of doping control by any athlete or other person" - a big no no in the eyes of WADA.

The 1500m freestyle world record-holder had previously been banned for a whopping eight years before it was eventually overturned by the Supreme Court last year.

So while this most recent suspension means Sun Yang will miss the upcoming Tokyo Games, some fans are are fuming that his eight-year ban has essentially been halved.

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Either way, it seems Sun Yang's Olympic dreams aren't entirely over with his latest suspension backdated to February 28, 2020.

This means he can still compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris - despite being 32 years of age when those games do finally roll around.

In the war against performance enhancing drugs within sport, it's a huge victory nonetheless.

And one person in particular who will look fondly upon Sun Yang's ban is Australian swimmer Mack Horton.

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The underlying tensions between Sun Yang and the rest of the swimming competition has been palpable with Horton leading the chorus of voices calling for authorities to clamp down on his doping.

Horton famously labelled his rival a "drug cheat" after clinching gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, but that was nothing compared to what the Aussie star did a few years later at the World Championships.

In 2019, after Sun Yang came out on top in the 400m freestyle, Horton refused to stand on the podium with him - a protest that singlehandedly created one of the most iconic images in swimming history.

This move was repeated by a number of fellow swimmers whenever Sun Yang won gold in the years that followed.

Topics: olympics, olympic games, Tokyo Olympics, swimming, Australia

Max Sherry

Max Sherry is a journalist for SPORTbible Australia. After migrating Down Under from London as a teenager, he instantly fell in love with Aussie sport and its culture. From NRL to AFL, cricket to rugby — you name it, Max watches it (with a beer in hand, of course). During his time at Fox Sports, he worked in the football department covering the Premier League, A-League, Socceroos and Matildas. Born a stone's throw away from West Ham's training ground, Max is obviously a die-hard Liverpool fan.

@maxysherry