Sun Yang doping punishment: Raelene Boyle launches #givemackgold campaign
A victim of one of the most shameful injustices in sport, Australian sprint great Raelene Boyle has called on swimming’s global leaders to complete drug cheat Sun Yang’s punishment.
Olympics
Don't miss out on the headlines from Olympics. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Australian sporting legend Raelene Boyle has called on swimming’s global leaders to do the right thing and award Mack Horton the gold medal he deserves from last year’s world championships.
A victim herself of one of the most shameful injustices in sport after she was robbed of gold by cheating East German runners, Boyle echoed the thoughts of everyone fighting for clean sport when she said Sun Yang should be stripped of his medals.
Watch over 50 sports LIVE on Kayo! Stream to your TV, mobile, tablet or computer. Just $25/month, cancel anytime. New to Kayo? Get your 14-day free trial & start streaming instantly >
Clean swimmers the world over are celebrating a rare win for clean sport after the twice-convicted Chinese cheat was given a career-ending eight-year ban for smashing his blood vials with a hammer before they could be tested for drugs.
But the surprising announcement by the Court of Arbitration for Sport that Sun would be allowed to keep his medals has left everyone wondering whether justice has really been served.
If Sun’s results from last year’s world championships had been annulled as expected, Horton would have been promoted to world champion after he finished second to in the 400m freestyle final, then refusing to join in the medal ceremony in a silent protest that was heard all around the world.
“The medals should definitely not be in his (Sun’s) hands,” Boyle told The Sunday Telegraph.
“I know Mack would rather come second and not cheat than cheat to win the gold but sporting organisations down the track have to address what happens with medals because Mack should have that gold medal and this is a really big issue.”
Despite throwing the book at Sun and handing him the maximum ban he deserved after he was found guilty of tampering, the CAS was powerless to strip Sun him of his medals because of the rules in place.
It was the sport’s discredited governing body FINA that screwed up by not imposing a provisional ban on Sun when he was initially charged with tampering and refusing to provide a sample.
That’s what normally happens whenever an athlete is charged with a doping offence – meaning they have to prove their innocence because they can compete again.
So although the CAS unanimously panel found Sun broke the rules, they couldn’t impose a retroactive punishment that would have included last year’s world championships because FINA had failed to impose a provincial suspension before their own appointed doping panel astonishingly cleared him.
“I actually think Mack’s taken a huge leap for all athletes by not getting on the dais with someone that cheated because the powers that be, through their decision, have acknowledged that what he did was right,” Boyle said.
“I think Mack has shown more respect to his sport than the other fellow, whose name I don’t even want to say, and it’s been proven to be a wonderful move on his part that’s been highlighted by the fact this other guy’s a drug cheat.”
Australia’s most high-profile victim of Cold War Olympic politics, Boyle has been a long time for advocate for disqualifying drug offenders and reallocating the medals to the athletes who deserved them.
She lost out herself at the 1972 Olympics when East Germans were winning everything while engaging in state-sponsored doping that was exposed after the collapse of Communism.
Almost half a century later, she is still waiting to be given the gold medals and said it would be travesty if Horton never got his either.
“You kind of still know in your own brain that you were the best at the time but it’s much nicer when you have the acknowledgement of the medal,” she said.
“There’s still people who say why don’t you just get over it and get on with things, but I think those people are ignorant and have no idea of what work goes into training.
“When you’re so bloody close to the best and the only one who’s beaten you is cheating, it does get up your nose a bit.”