GWANGJU, South Korea — A doping cloud has long hung over this sport and one of the world’s best swimmers, and at the world championships this week, it finally burst, submerging the event in silent and sullen protests directed at Sun Yang of China, a six-time Olympic medalist.
Sun collected his 11th world championship title Tuesday after the apparent winner, Danas Rapsys of Lithuania, was disqualified for moving on the blocks at the start of the 200-meter freestyle. Every sport needs a villain, and in swimming, a sneering Sun seems content to be that person. After each win, the swimming world directs its anger at him as the symbol of everything that is wrong with the sport.