Olympic champion Sun Yang accuses nurse of illegal blood collection

BEIJING -- China's Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang has accused a nurse involved in his anti-doping case of not having the correct credentials and therefore collecting his blood illegally.

"She violated provincial regulations for China's nurses. Worse, she did not have a valid qualification certificate of speciality and technology, or a practicing nurse certificate, and only showed me an expired qualification certificate," Sun wrote on Chinese social network Weibo.

Sun also criticized what he called injustice and unfair treatment afforded to Chinese athletes at a public hearing held by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Montreux, Switzerland on November 15. The Chinese swimmer vowed to defend his right to clear his name.

The 11-hour hearing was brought to CAS by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) against Sun and swimming world governing body FINA, after FINA's previous decision not to sanction Sun for alleged anti-doping rule violations.

Sun said that on the night of September 4, 2018 when he was tested, he asked three doping officers from the international testing company IDTM to show their authorized certification, documents and valid accreditation, only for them to refuse.

In a picture posted on Weibo, Sun showed two certificates in blue covers: the qualification certificate of speciality and technology, and the practicing nurse certificate.

"According to regulations on China's nurses, those who practice across geographical areas must go through the relevant registration and filing procedures, otherwise they shall not practice in areas other than where they are registered. If such rules are violated, the relevant medical and health institutions shall make a decision on handling such a case according to the law."