A CHANNEL Seven commentator has suffered a massive Freudian slip on live TV after calling swimmer Sun Yang “one of China’s cheats” instead of “star”.
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A war of words was sparked by Horton, who dismissed Sun as a drug cheat after beating him to claim the 400m freestyle gold medal on the opening night of the Rio Games.
“You have offended against the sensitive (feelings) of the Chinese people”, said one of more than 300,000 comments left on Horton’s latest Instagram post of him celebrating his win on the medal podium.
The Australian Olympic Committee also stood by the gold medallist, saying in a statement: “He has spoken out in support of clean athletes”.
Australia’s chef de mission Kitty Chiller flatly ruled out any chance of an apology on Tuesday, according to CNN affiliate Sky News Australia.
The talismanic Chinese giant bounced back from losing his 400m title to Australian Mack Horton by reeling in fast-starting Le Clos to become the first man to win three of the five Olympic freestyle titles.
The Aussie said Sun “splashed me to say hello, and I didn’t respond because I don’t have time for drug cheats”.
“In the past I always got silvers in the event, and finally I broke the jinx”, said the 24-year-old Sun, who’s silver medalist in 2013 and 2015 world championships as well as in the London Games four years ago. He has been accused of disruptive pool behavior by swimmers – both men and women – from several countries. In 2014, he spent a week in jail for crashing his auto into a bus in China while driving without a licence.
Chinese sports officials said that Sun had been using the drug for years to treat heart palpitations before it was banned in January 2014.
Horton’s social media accounts have been set ablaze with numerous troll comments, many of which are from Chinese netizens angered at his taunting remarks.
On Friday, Horton and Yang will be competing against each other in the 1,500-meter race.
It added that “If Horton won the competition by disrupting his rival in an immoral way, his win is disgraceful, and not in line with the spirit of the Olympics”.
On Monday, Xinhua released a slew of gently critical articles on topics ranging from Australian trade policy to Melbourne’s quality of life. The paper referred to Australia’s past as “Britain’s offshore prison…on the fringes of civilization”.
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Horton clocked 3min 41.55sec to hold off a feverish challenge from 2012 gold medallist Sun, who briefly looked to have the Australian beaten on the last lap but had to settle for second in 3:41.68.
