Manan Vatsyayana/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Sun Yang, the three-time Olympic swimming champion from China, will be suspended for eight years for a drug-testing violation, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Friday.
Sun, 28, a six-time Olympic medalist and the first Chinese man to win a swimming gold at the Games, has been fighting a multiyear battle with the World Anti-Doping Agency to preserve his eligibility to compete in international competition, including the 2020 Olympics.
WADA brought a complaint against Sun to the court after swimming’s international governing body declined to penalize him for refusing to cooperate with three antidoping officials who had traveled to his home in China to retrieve blood and urine samples.