This Chinese Swimmer Tested Positive for Banned Substances, and an Australian Swimmer Is Calling Him Out
On Saturday, Australia's Mack Horton won gold in the men's 400-meter freestyle, dethroning China's Sun Yang, who won silver, to take top spot on the podium. But while the competition was fierce in the water, the bigger fight between the two is actually happening on dry land - and it's starting to get very dirty.
In 2014, Yang tested positive for the stimulant trimetazidine during the Chinese nationals and was suspended from swimming for three months. Yang insisted he was prescribed the drug to help with heart palpitations, but Horton clearly never bought it, and has made his feelings about doping very clear in multiple press interviews leading up to and during the Olympics. To make matters worse, during a training session prior to the Olympics, Yang allegedly splashed some water into Horton's lane, which the swimmer took as a personal attack.
"He just kind of splashed me, but I ignored him because I don't have time or respect for drug cheats," Horton said following the preliminary heats this weekend, according to the Washington Post. "He wasn't too happy about that, so he kept splashing me. I just got in and did my thing."
After Horton won the gold Sunday, however, things started to get even more heated between the two.
"I just have a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing," Horton said at the press conference following the race.
In response, Yang - who was awkwardly sitting right next to him - responded by saying, "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."
Later in the same conference, when confronted by the Chinese media as to why he attacked Yang by calling him a drug cheat, Horton doubled down on his original sentiment.
"I used the words drug cheat because he tested positive," he said, calling his win "a win for the good guys."
"I don't know if it's a rivalry between me and him, just me and athletes who have tested positive," he continued, according to the Washington Post.
Unsurprisingly, fans of Yang were not too pleased by the spat, and Horton's social media soon became flooded with snake emojis and commenters demanding he apologize to Yang for his remarks. Superfans of Yang were especially vicious due to the fact Yang was seen crying after losing his title - and it got so bad, Horton shut down comments on his Instagram altogether. Even China's media attacked the Australian swimmer, directly calling his home country "uncivilized" and his victory "disgraceful," according to Yahoo News.
Meanwhile, Australian media and officials have stuck by Horton's side, and the Australian Olympic Committee released a statement this weekend stating, "He has spoken out in support of clean athletes. This is something he feels strongly about and good luck to him."
Horton and Yang will be competing against one another again next Saturday for the men's 1,500-meter free, for which Yang is both the world record holder and defending gold medalist.
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