GWANGJU – Sun Yang proved unbeatable again in the
men's 400-metre freestyle at the world swimming championships on
Sunday as the controversial Chinese claimed yet another gold.
Sun moved into the lead at the halfway point of the opening swimming
final of the championships and was never in danger of being caught.
He won in 3 minutes 42.44 seconds with his Australian rival Mack
Horton moving through the field in the final 50m to take silver in
3:43.17.
Italy's Gabriele Detti took bronze, nudging Lithuania's early leader
Danas Rapsys into fourth.
Sun is competing despite a case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport
over doping test samples being smashed in a confrontation with
officials last year.
He received a warning from the ruling body FINA but the World
Anti-Doping Agency wants the case heard at the CAS which won't happen
until after the worlds.
Sunday's victory is the 27-year-old Sun's 10th overall at the worlds
and fourth straight over 400m.
The 2016 Olympic champion Horton has previously labelled Sun, who
once served a secret three-month ban for doping, a drug cheat.
Later American superstar Katie Ledecky will aim for her first gold at
the Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Centre in the women's 400m
free while there are also men's and women's 4x100m freestyle relay
finals.