Sun Yang: Rise and fall of a controversial champion

Here is a timeline of Chinese Olympic champion Sun Yang's controversial career who was banned for eight years for refusing to cooperate with drug-testers.

Photo: AP

The Beginning: After winning a bronze at the 2009 world championships in Rome, Sun Yang bagged the gold in the 1500m and 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Photo: ap

Stardom: Sun shattered Grant Hackett’s 10-year-old 1500m world record and also won the 800m at the 2011 world championships in Shanghai.

Olympic Glory: Sun narrowly missed the gold in the 200m freestyle at the 2012 London Games, but struck gold in the 400m and 1500m.

Photo: ap

Secret Ban and the Horton rivalry: After winning a triple gold at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, news emerged that he served a three-month suspension for taking the banned stimulant trimetazidine. At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Sun was called "a drug cheat" by Australia's Mack Horton (Extreme Left) who beat him to the gold in 400m freestyle and refused to share the podium with his rival.

Photo: ap

Smashed Vials and Podium Protests: In 2019, Britain daily The Sunday Times alleged that a vial of Sun's blood was smashed with a hammer during a dispute with anti-doping testers. Great Britain swimmer Duncan Scott (Left) walked off from the podium after winning the bronze in the 200m freestyle during the 2019 World Championships. Sun told Scott: “I win, you loser.”

The Downfall: On November 15, 2019, attended a public hearing to contest the accusations for the broken blood sample vials. On February 28, 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport banned Sun for eight years for refusing to give blood and urine samples to testers.

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The Beginning: After winning a bronze at the 2009 world championships in Rome, Sun Yang bagged the gold in the 1500m and 4x200m freestyle relay at the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou.