Sun Yang celebrates his gold medal in the men's 400m freestyle during the London 2012 Olympic Games swimming competition, 28 July 2012. [Xinhua]

Sun Yang, the first male swimmer to win an Olympic gold for China, was convicted on February 4 by the Zhejiang College of Sports for disciplinary violations, Xinhua reported today.

The punishments include the circulation of a reprimand letter; the deduction of a month’s training allowance; and the temporary suspension of all commercial activities. "There are only excellent athletes in our college, no special ones," said Li Jianshe, president of the Zhejiang College of Sports.

Aside from a reported love affair with an air hostess making headlines very recently, Sun had systematically been skipping training sessions and instead had indulged in commercial activities for over 40 days. What's more, Sun had recently requested to replace his coach Zhu Zhigen after a confrontation with him about disagreements regarding training intensity and management.

Having been Sun's coach for ten years, Zhu was very disappointed and suffered a relapse of high blood and thyroid nodule.

It was said that Sun has realized his wrongdoings, and has vowed to behave properly, as should befit an Olympian gold medalist. He went to visit Zhu yesterday morning but was denied entrance.

Zhu had planned to start training his apprentices in Australia after Spring Festival, which unfortunately might be delayed due to recent events.

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