Aussie takes some shine off Sun's sensational win

In January, swimming's global governing body FINA cleared Sun of any wrongdoing after reviewing the findings of a November closed-door hearing in Lausanne, Switzerland, and allowed him to continue competing. But WADA appealed in March to CAS, challenging the FINA decision and seeking stricter punishment.

It was the second time Sun saw his name linked to doping violations after serving a three-month suspension prior to the 2014 Asian Games for mistakenly taking the stimulant trimetazidine to treat a heart problem.

The drug had been added to WADA's banned list at the beginning of that year.

Sun, who will compete for his second straight 200m world title on Tuesday, told media after the 400m final that he could forgive Horton for protesting against him, but he believed the Aussie had gone too far and his actions would be perceived as "disrespecting" China.

"Yes I was aware that the Australian athlete had dissatisfaction towards me, but it was unfortunate because disrespecting me is OK but disrespecting China was very unfortunate and I felt sorry about that," Sun said.

A legal team representing Sun revealed on Friday that the Chinese star had asked for an open hearing from the Lausanne-based CAS "in order to be fully transparent to clear his name".

The request follows details of the FINA ruling, which was supposed to be confidential, being leaked by Australian media on the eve of the championships in South Korea.

Sun's lawyers, according to an Associated Press report, condemned the media leak as "flagrant breaches of confidentiality".

Swimming commentator Han Qiaosheng with China Central Television backed Sun on social media on Monday, claiming Horton's move was premeditated as a mental distraction for Sun.

"Imagine if he would still refuse to share the podium with Sun and not step on the podium if he won the final? It was his plot to destabilize Sun's focus. We shall firmly support Sun to clear his name," Han wrote on his Weibo account.

Despite his contribution to China's medal haul at major events, Sun has been chastised for some of his conduct out of the pool, including being caught driving without a license in 2013 and an open feud with long-term mentor Zhu Zhigen over his management.

The antagonism between Sun and Horton goes back to the 2016 Rio Olympics, where Sun splashed Horton in the warm-up pool to say hello and Horton told the media he ignored Sun because he "didn't have time for drug cheats".