Double 2012 Olympic champion swimmer Sun Yang will spend at least one week in detention after it was discovered he’d been driving without a license when the Porsche SUV he was driving was rear-ended by a bus in China.
An apology was posted on Sun’s Weibo page.
“I should have been a role model as an athlete and a public figure but I failed my responsibility,” it read, according to Reuters. “I am deeply sorry for what I have done and will reflect on my behavior. Because I have been focusing on training and competition, I had only a hazy knowledge of the law, which led to my mistake.
“After this incident, I will strengthened my knowledge and study of the law to prevent such a thing from happening again. I hope that everyone will take this as a warning and give me an opportunity to correct my mistake.”
Uninjured, Sun could spend as many as 15 days in detention and was also fined up to $325, according to reports.
It was posted on Sun’s Weibo, which has 20 million followers, that Sun drove a relative’s Porsche Cayenne SUV that was rear-ended by a bus on Sunday afternoon in his hometown of Hangzhou.
Sun was named the top male swimmer at the World Championships this summer, where he won three gold medals. He also won the 400m and 1500m freestyle races at the 2012 Olympics.
