SWIMMING NEWS - Chinese swimming star Sun Yang threatened legal action against a British newspaper on Sunday over claims that he faced a lifetime ban after allegedly clashing with anti-doping testers and smashing a vial of blood with a hammer.
The 27-year-old Sun, who has won Olympic gold in the 200m, 400m and 1 500m freestyle and is also a multiple world champion, strongly refutes the accusations contained in The Sunday Times.
The newspaper alleged that a confrontation took place after Sun – who was banned for three months in 2014 for taking a stimulant – missed an out-of-competition test on September 4 at his home in Zhejiang province.
"A clash with anti-doping testers ended in him and his security guard using a hammer to smash a sealed vial containing the swimmer's blood," The Sunday Times reported.
After the story broke, Sun's lawyer Zhang Qihuai issued a statement saying that the newspaper had "a malign intention" and "severely damaged Sun Yang's reputation and violated his privacy".
"We reserve the right to file a lawsuit against the relevant international media which reported the incident," the statement added, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
