He received a barrage of messages from Sun Yang fans, some of whom mistakenly typed “mark” instead of “mack”.
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Pressed further if he would beat Horton in the upcoming 1500m freestyle, Sun simply replied: “1500 metre”. “In many serious essays written by Westerners, Australia is mentioned as a country at the fringes of civilization”.
Sun served a three-month ban in 2014 in secret after testing positive to a banned stimulant, and many swimmers believe he should not be competing in the Olympics.
Sun has previously said he did not know the medication trimetazidine, which he took for chronic heart palpitations, had been placed on the banned list when he tested positive.
This was the first of Horton’s three events in Rio.
The row overshadowed a race that had everything – lead changes galore and a thunderous finish, Horton refusing to flinch as he won by a fingertip, edging Sun to win by just 0.13 seconds in a time of 3:41.55.
Sports fans haven’t been shy in coming after the Australian for his aggressive tactics, the Chinese in particular bombarding Horton’s Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts, demanding he apologise to Sun.
Earlier, Fairfax Media had revealed that Horton and Sun had an altercation at the training pool. One even expressed hope Horton would be “killed by a local kangaroo”.
Horton’s victory ensured Australia wouldn’t suffer their ignominious London fate of failing to earn a single individual gold in the pool.
“Definitely a win for the good guys”, he told Channel Seven after the race.
“On the competition stage, every athlete deserves to be respected and there’s no need to use these sort of cheap tricks to affect each other”, he told reporters.
One such controversy is the accusation by Australian swimmer Mack Horton against Chinese rival Sun Yang.
“I used the words drug cheat because he tested positive”, said Horton when asked by a Chinese journalist “why he used those words”. It is proof of a lack of good manners and upbringing.
Chinese swimming officials have demanded an apology over Horton’s comments.
Adding to Australia’s calumny, The Global Times reported that Channel 7 was also in trouble because it cut to ads as Chinese athletes walked into the stadium during the opening ceremony. “I’ve done whatever it takes to prove I’m a clean athlete”.
“He made a statement not in words but also performance which is fantastic”.
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Then came the other part of the editorial, where the author wondered if there’s something wrong with “some Australians’ sense of collective self-esteem”.
