China, Australia locked in ‘drug cheat’ row in Rio
Print Edition
SWIMMING officials from Australia and China are jumping into the fray as a feud over doping between swimmers Mack Horton and Sun Yang keeps boiling over at the Rio Olympics.
The Chinese Swimming Association yesterday asked Horton to apologize for his “inappropriate words” after he labeled Sun a “drug cheat” — a reference to Sun’s three-month 2014 suspension over banned heart medication.
Australia’s Olympic Committee shot back in Horton’s defense, saying he was speaking his mind in support of clean athletes, and wished him luck.
Horton, 20, made a dig at Sun while the two attended a press conference on Saturday after Horton unseated the Chinese defending champion in the 400-meter freestyle.
It was the second time in days that Horton had publicly referred to Sun’s drug suspension as part of what the Australian team acknowledged is a campaign to unsettle the Chinese star.
Sun had earlier been accused of splashing water at Horton in an apparent attempt to get his attention and Horton made his initial “drug cheat” reference when asked why he had ignored Sun.
The Chinese team briefly banned Sun, 24, from competing following a raft of disciplinary issues, including crashing a friend’s Porsche SUV into a bus in 2013 while driving without a license, landing him in jail.
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.
The 2-meter-tall Chinese star burst into tears on Sunday after losing to Horton, garnering an outpouring of support from Chinese social media users who pilloried Horton on his Facebook page.
The Australian was accused of snubbing Sun’s attempt to congratulate him on his win after the race, although the two did briefly shake hands at the podium.
Chinese swim team manager Xu Qi also laid into Horton, saying the Australian had “hurt the feelings between Chinese and Australian swimmers” and showed “a lack of good manners and upbringing,” according to Xinhua news agency.
Sun appeared to get his swagger back yesterday as he told reporters at an Olympic village bus stop that he is “the king” in the 1,500-meter freestyle event, scheduled for Sunday, when he will again compete against Horton.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
