Swimming: Sun’s Australian Coach Denis Cotterell Cuts Ties With Banned Swimmer

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MELBOURNE鈥擲un Yang’s coach Denis Cotterell has cut ties with the Chinese Olympic champion following the swimmer’s eight-year ban for doping, Australian media reported on Sunday.

Cotterell told News Ltd media he would not back Sun’s appeal to the Swiss federal court as he sought to overturn the decision by the Court of Arbitration (CAS) for Sport last week.

“I have terminated my contract with (the) Chinese Swimming Association,” Cotterell said in comments published by News Ltd.

Asked if he supported Sun’s appeal, Cotterell replied: “No.”

Swimming: Sun’s Australian Coach Denis Cotterell Cuts Ties With Banned Swimmer

The 28-year-old Sun is the reigning world and Olympic champion in 200 meters freestyle and won two gold medals at the 2012 London Games and another at Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

The Switzerland-based CAS last week upheld an appeal from the World Anti-Doping Agency against a decision by swimming body FINA to clear Sun of wrongdoing for his conduct during a 2018 test when members of his entourage destroyed vials containing samples of his blood.

Cotterell had defended Sun after his first three-month ban for doping in 2014 and described the swimmer’s critics as “hypocrites” at the world championships in Gwangju last year.

“If you think for a second I would be (coaching) someone that is a cheat, then people don’t know me,” Cotterell told Australian media last year during the world championships where Sun was shunned at the medal podium by rival swimmers.

Sun has maintained his innocence and said in a statement on Friday that he had retained a lawyer to appeal to the Swiss federal court.

By Ian Ransom

This article is from the Internet:Swimming: Sun’s Australian Coach Denis Cotterell Cuts Ties With Banned Swimmer

Amid Virus Outbreak, China Suddenly Cancels Flights and Train Schedules in Major Cities

Two major cities in Guangdong province recently cancelled most of their flights to Beijing, Shanghai, and Hangzhou, drawing public speculation that the changes were precautions related to the novel coronavirus outbreak. A large number of passenger train routes in major cities across the country were also cancelled. Airlines stated “public security issues,” but didn’t give details. State-run media quoted Air China staff who said: “could be related to coronavirus outbreak.” In recent days, local media reported several cases of novel coronavirus patients who died in Guangdong province shortly after being confirmed with the virus. According to flight-tracking websites, almost all flights from Shenzhen and Guangzhou to Beijing, Shanghai and Hangzhou were cancelled after 5:15 p.m. local time on March 5. Some of the flights to Tianjin, Nanjing, Shenyang, and other…