Duncan Scott, who refused to share a podium with Sun Yang at last year’s World Championships, has reacted to the eight-year ban handed to the Chinese on Friday by welcoming the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Time to say goodbye to playing along with athletes towing a doping record, says Duncan Scott as he makes his way off the deck top cheers from the crowd and athletes – Photo Courtesy: Patrick B. Kraemer
Sun won the 200m freestyle in Gwangju, South Korea, last year after original winner Danas Rapsys had been disqualified, elevating the Chinese to gold and Scott to joint bronze alongside Martin Malyutin of Russia.
Following the medal ceremony, the triple Olympic champion shouted in Scott’s face, the Briton calm and unflinching in the face of aggression.
As the quartet left the stage, Sun leaned into Scott and shouted: “You loser … (me) the winner”.
It followed a similar silent podium protest by Australia’s Mack Horton and earned the swimmers a rebuke from FINA.
On Friday, Scott issued a statement that read:
“I fully respect and support the decision that has been made and announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport this morning.
“I believe in clean sport and a level playing field for all athletes and I trust in CAS and WADA to uphold these values.”
The 22-year-old was on scorching form at the McCullagh International in Bangor, Northern Ireland, last weekend with four golds from four races, including a 1:47.06 200 free blast in morning finals.
It is a measure of the length of time the case has taken to come to a conclusion that Scott himself was uncertain about what was happening.
He told Swimming World:
“It’s out of my hands. That’s sort of like everything else in swimming, it’s out of my hands what other people are doing. It’s not something I particularly follow and it’s not something I’ve been thinking about.
“I choose to focus on myself and what I can do.”