BEIJING (AP) – 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 on Monday 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, hours later, 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 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.
Sun, 24, who won two golds at the 2012 London Games, has a long history of bad behavior and tangling with others. He has been accused of disruptive pool behavior by swimmers – both men and women – from several countries. The Chinese team briefly banned him 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.