Chinese Netizens Fury Over Aussie Swimmer Mack Horton’s ‘Drug Cheat’ Claim On Sun Yang

2016/08/08

Han Jing

Australia's first gold medalist at the Rio Olympics, Mack Horton, has provoked outrage among Chinese netizens after attacking 400m favorite Sun Yang on his doping record.

Horton clocked 3 minutes 41.55 seconds, eclipsing Sun by just 13 hundredths of a second in the men's 400m freestyle final at the Olympic Aquatics stadium. Sun, scorched by the loss, was left weeping after the race.

Sun was the pre-race favorite, having won gold in the same event at the London 2012 Games. The 24-year-old is also the defending 1500m Olympic champion.

Horton sparked a war of words after a training session when Sun splashed water on him, which the Australian did not take it lightly. He taunted him by calling him a "drug cheat." After his success in the 400m on Saturday, Horton said it was a "win for the good guys," which was largely interpreted to be a dig at Sun.

Sun served a three-month ban for testing positive to banned stimulant trimetazidine used to treat angina in 2014. Sun claimed he did not know it had been added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list months earlier. After his suspension ended, he competed in that year’s Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where he won three golds.

Sun said at a Rio press conference he was now clean and called for some respect. "I've done whatever it takes to prove I am a clean athlete," he said. "All the athletes here need to be respected and there’s no need to use these cheap tricks to affect each other."

Horton said on Sunday that he would not withdraw his comments. Horton said, "I used the words ‘drug cheat’ because he tested positive. I just have a problem with him testing positive and still competing," the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

Horton’s social media accounts including Twitter, Instagram and Facebook was bombarded by furious Chinese netizens. They demanded an apology for his "malicious personal attack" on Sun with hashtag #apologizetosunyang and accused him “winning the game while losing his character.” Some called him a racist.

By 5pm on Monday, his Instagram account "mackhorton" had attracted more than 16,000 comments. A previous selfie post had more than 12,000 comments. Horton’s latest Facebook post had over 52,000 comments by 6pm on Monday.

Netizens also typed emoji "peach" in clear reference for "bitch" in English, and "snake" with a connotation of "cruel and venomous" in comments.

Horton has already shut down comments on his Instagram account on Monday.

Web users in China have also accused Australian media of stirring up emotions based on biased facts.

However, the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) has backed Horton’s strong stance against doping. "Mack is entitled to express a point of view," an AOC statement said. "Under the Team Values ASPIRE the E stands for express yourself, that is his right. He has spoken out in support of clean athletes. This is something he feels strongly about and good luck to him."

The Chinese Swimming Association has officially approached its Australian counterpart, demanding an apology from Mack, saying it is a "proof of a lack of good manners and upbringing."

"We think his inappropriate words greatly hurt the feelings between Chinese and Australian swimmers."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesman Mark Adams said they would investigate the incident.

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Chinese Netizens Fury Over Aussie Swimmer Mack Horton’s ‘Drug Cheat’ Claim On Sun Yang

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