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 Alberto Pinto da Silva, in comments carried by Brazilian sports news
website globoesporte.com, said the incident occurred when Larissa
Oliveira was warming up alongside the Chinese swimmer in the pool.
The website reported that the Brazilian Aquatic Sports Federation
had made a formal complaint to FINA, swimming's world ruling body.
"He was warming up and he pulled the Brazilian girl's foot," said
the coach. "He ran her over. She got angry and had it out with him.
He tried to elbow her and kick her.
"So then the Brazilian coaches went to speak to him. He said she was
bothering him and one of the coaches said that the pool wasn't just
his. Everyone was at the side of the pool, and they were all
swearing at each other.
"There were about 15 people right up at him. But there wasn't any
violence."
Sun, who became the first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming
gold medal when he took the 400m and 1,500m freestyle double in
London, later missed Sunday's 1,500m freestyle final in Kazan due to
what he said was a heart problem.
"I feel very sorry that I couldn’t be present for the 1500m," Sun
told reporters. "I didn’t feel good in my heart.
"Today I felt really uncomfortable at the pool during my warm-up and
I had to give up the idea of competing. I feel really sorry about
that.
"It happened after the warm-up as I was preparing for the
competition. It is the first time I have felt uncomfortable in
competition."
When asked about the incident with the Brazilian swimmer during
training in the adjacent pool, Sun said: "I have no comment because
it was a morning problem".
'UPSET AND AGGRESSIVE'
Pinto da Silva said other coaches had came to him with similar
complaints about Sun.
"The Canadian (coach) came over to me and said, 'he has already
bothered my swimmers,'" Pinto said.
"The South African (coach) said he bothered the swimmers when they
were swimming. Chile, Argentina, everyone came to tell me what do
to. If he's doing that to everyone then he's a dangerous guy, he has
no place in sport."
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Chinese swimming officials could not be reached for comment.
Sun, who was named the meet's top male swimmer after winning the
400m and 800m freestyle titles and finishing second in the 200m, had
been "very upset and aggressive" in the locker room, according to a
fellow competitor.
A Danish swimmer, who did not wish to be named, told Reuters by
email there had been a huge commotion with the Chinese delegation
and that Sun had been agitated watching the 1,500 final on
television in the locker room.
Sun has made just as many headlines away from the sport as he has in
the pool.
He was banned by Chinese swimming authorities in 2013 after being
jailed for crashing a car he had driven without a license.
It also emerged last year that Sun had secretly served a three-month
ban after testing positive for a banned stimulant.
The China Anti-Doping Agency could have imposed a longer ban but
opted for a lenient punishment because Sun had been given medication
by a doctor to treat a heart issue and was unaware it had been added
to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list.
(Writing by Andrew Downie, additional reporting by Rod Gilmour,
Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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