When asked by Hangzhou officials, the 21-year-old was unable to provide a valid driving licence and consequently faces a fine between 200 (£20/$33/€24) and 2000 yuan (£200/$328/€243) and up to 15 days in detention.

"After looking into the system, we did not find any record of his licence," said a Hangzhou official.

"Sun admitted he did not have one."

Sun apologised for the incident on social media site Weibo on Monday and said he has failed as a role model.

"I should have been a role model as an athlete and a public figure but I failed my responsibility," he said.

"I am deeply sorry for what I have done and will reflect on my behaviour.

"Because I have been focusing on training and competition, I ignored learning some legal knowledge, which led to my mistake."

The Chinese swimmer rocketed to fame after winning gold medals at London 2012 in the 400 metres and 1500m freestyle, making him the first Chinese man to win an Olympic swimming title.

Sun was accused of devoting too much time to media commitments following his double Olympic gold medals at London 2012



The young star faced a difficult year after the Olympics finding himself in the media limelight for the wrong reasons on a number of occasions.

Sun was punished by the Zhejiang College of Sports in February for breaking a number of team rules.

They withheld a month's allowance from him and provisionally suspended him from taking part in any commercial activities.

He was accused of failing to follow his systematic training programme for 40 days due to increasing media commitments and his public love affair with an air hostess.

Following the argument, Sun controversially asked to leave his long-term trainer Zhu Zhigen and began working with former Chinese head coach Zhang Yadong.

Yang took gold medals in the 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle events at the World Aquatics Championships in Barcelona in August.

Sun Yang's relationship with air stewardess Nian Nian has been blamed by the Chinese media for affecting his focus

But Zhejiang College of Sports reacted to this latest incident by suspending him.

They claimed that they had no idea where he was until the accident and had taken an unauthorised holiday in Thailand, failing to respond to phone calls and messages.

"It is unacceptable to have swimmers with privilege in the Zhejiang team," said Zhang Yadong, vice-president of the college.

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