His options, however, appear to be limited. Should he take his case to the Swiss federal court, the appeal would be limited to whether procedures were properly followed and perhaps whether the punishment was proportionate.
Sun, who contended the testers had been unprofessional and lacked the proper paperwork, received only a warning from a tribunal from FINA, swimming’s governing body. WADA, the antidoping agency, appealed that decision, arguing for stronger penalties.
The court said that while athletes might have grounds to question the accreditation of testing personnel, the destruction of samples – an act that would prevent testing at a later date – in defiance of warnings about the consequences was not acceptable.
The November hearing before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Montreux, Switzerland, translation issues marred the proceedings, and a new confrontation erupted – between Sun’s mother and opposing lawyers during cross-examination.
WADA said on Friday that it “welcomes the ruling. ”
Sun is disdained by some fellow swimmers because of concerns about doping – he was suspended for three months by the Chinese swimming authorities in 2018 after he tested positive for a recently bann ed prescription drug – and several rivals verbally sparred with him at the world championships last July or refused to stand on the medals podium with him after races.
Sun won the 1500 – and – meter freestyles at the London Games in 2016 and the freestyle in Rio in . He has three other Olympic medals and from the world championships, including (gold.
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