• ABOUT
  • ADVERTISE
  • SUPPORT
  • CONTACT
  • WORK
Friday, February 26, 2021
Shanghaiist
8 °c
Shanghai
7 ° Sat
6 ° Sun
6 ° Mon
5 ° Tue
5 ° Wed
9 ° Thu
  • NEWS

    The “world’s tallest swing” is now open in Chongqing and it looks absolutely terrifying

    Kid falls from second story while imitating Kobe Bryant’s fadeaway

    Guy wearing police uniform for “safety” pulled over by highway cops

    Dalian to test 190,000 residents after 3 new confirmed cases are reported

    One-legged Chinese baller inspires others with his hard work and three-point shot

    Chinese courier company caught using mannequins as security inspectors

    China opens another world’s longest glass-bottomed bridge in Guangdong province

    3-year-old girl and her grandma beaten with shovel in horrific “revenge” attack

    Workers spotted burning documents as US orders China to close its Houston consulate

    LOOK: Massive landslide blocks river in Hubei province

    IKEA to open new downtown location in Shanghai this week

    Hunan bus drivers block road to pass bag of betel nuts across opposite lanes

    Jilin driver delayed by 20 minutes by wild Siberian tiger relaxing on the road

    6-year-old boy drowns to death during first swimming lesson at public pool

    Neighbor smoothly catches toddler falling from 5th floor

    Dude spotted chillaxing on self-made raft on river in Chongqing during flood season

    Shanghai dude gets part of ear bitten off while stopping drunk guy from assaulting woman

    Woman mysteriously disappears from home in Hangzhou, leaving behind no trace

    Two women get stuck in elevator at home for 4 days, drink their own urine to stay alive

    Urumqi goes on lockdown as fears rise of a new coronavirus outbreak in Xinjiang

  • L!FE
  • FOOD
  • GALLERY
  • VIDEO

    WATCH: Colorized footage of life in Beijing a century ago

    Hunan high school turns gym into cafeteria to keep students separated

    Kung fu school reopens teaching students how to swing bricks from their balls

    Dancing aunties and uncles return to Wuhan sidewalks

    Xi Jinping actually made a joke!

    Shanghai dad builds Death Stranding like safety pod to protect baby from coronavirus

    Tag along on food tour of Lanzhou, the hometown of hand-pulled noodles

    Man smashes bus window, jumps out after being stuck in traffic for 20 minutes

    Scooter driver somehow survives being squashed by massive panes of glass

    How students at a Xuzhou primary school have taken jump rope to the next level

    How this Chinese martial arts master “jumps on water”

    Bringing your date to your studio apartment of great shame

    Male designer loses 25 kg, goes viral modeling women’s clothing

    Take a look inside Taiwan’s “most luxurious university dormitories”

    Racers take the stairs in 119-floor vertical marathon up the Shanghai Tower

    Meet China’s captivating “roly-poly girl” who defies gravity with a smile

    Awful Chinese propaganda rappers take on Hong Kong protests, sample Trump

    Trying the food at a Chinese Muslim wedding in Kaifeng

    What it’s like visiting home after living in China

    Watch this Chinese teen jump rope 228 times in just 30 seconds

  • TICKETS
    • FAQ
  • ★ BE A PATRON
    • ★ DONATE
No Result
View All Result
Shanghaiist
No Result
View All Result
Shanghaiist
No Result
View All Result

Chinese fans attack Australian swimmer Mack Horton online after he calls Sun Yang a ‘drug cheat’

by Shanghaiist
May 5, 2018
in News

mackhorton_sy_rio-front.jpg
As athletes from around the world gather at the Rio Olympics to show off their skills and sportsmanship, the drama between Chinese and Australian swimmers, Sun Yang and Mack Horton, has grabbed the attention of spectators.
The two contestants competed in the 400-meter freestyle event, where Sun is the defending champion from the London Olympics. In a surprising turn of events, Horton beat Sun by 0.13 seconds. However, the bitterness between the two started before the race when Sun allegedly splashed Horton in the warm-up pool, then Horton called Sun a “drug cheat.”
mackhorton_sy_rio3.jpg
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Sun was splashing water at Horton and trying to distract him during his training session. But both Sun and Xu Qi, the swim team manager, have denied these allegations and stated that it must have been a misunderstanding.
Later, Horton talked about the situation and explained why he didn’t do anything about Sun’s splashing at the time. “I didn’t respond because I don’t have time for drug cheats,” he said. At a press conference later, a Chinese reporter asked why he referred to Sun as a drug cheat. “I used the words ‘drug cheat’ because he tested positive. I just have a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing,” Horton explained.
This isn’t the first time Sun has had a run in with Australians regarding doping. Earlier in 2014, he tested positive for Trimetazidine, which could optimize cellular energy and helps maintain one’s metabolism when a particular organ lacks blood flow. This drug was and still is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) prohibited list. Sun claimed that he was taking a prescription of Vasorel for heart palpitations and was unaware that the drug contained Trimetazidine. For the offense, the Chinese Anti-Doping Agency gave him a 3 month ban while WADA advocates for a 2-year minimum ban for first time offenders. Regarding this incident, Michael Scott, Director of High Performance at Swimming Australia, banned Sun, who was training in Australia, from local pools.
mackhorton_sy_rio4.jpg
After winning first place in the event, Horton emerged from the pool and was asked about “the rivalry” between him and Sun Yang. He certainly did not hold back and doubled down on his previous statements, “Yeah it was definitely a win for the good guys. I don’t know if it’s a rivalry between me and him, but just me and athletes who have tested positive I guess.”

Sun responded to the jab, by stating, “I am clean and I’ve done whatever it takes to prove I’m a clean athlete.”
The Chinese swim team manager has demanded Horton apologize for his “malicious personal attack” on Sun, People’s Daily reports. Meanwhile, Mark Anderson, the Chief Executive for Australia’s swim team, has spoken out in support of Horton:
“We do support our athletes and trust them that when they say things, they say them with respect and openness and transparency. Mack made that statement and we absolutely back it. We’re not focusing on that as a topic but clearly it is something that meant a lot to Mack. He came out, made a strong statement and we support that.”
mackhorton_sy_rio5.jpg
It seems like the series of events was too much for Sun, who broke down into tears during an interview. The hashtag in support of the Chinese athlete, #Don’t Cry Sun Yang#, has gone viral on Weibo with 83 million views.

mackhorton_sy_rio2.jpg
But netizens went even further than that. Even with the existence of the Great Firewall, it may not be a good idea to anger Chinese fans. Since Horton made those comments, his social media accounts have been spammed by angry Chinese netizens, calling him a “snake,” “loser” or “disrespectful person.” The hashtag #apologizetosunyang has more than 11,000 posts already on Instagram. Furthermore, Andrew Brown from Fairfax Media reported that there have been more than 200,000 hate comments on his page. Though Horton has turned off comments on his account already, he is still within the reach of Chinese netizens.
A victory photo he posted on Facebook has garnered almost 2,000 angry-faced emoticons and lots of scornful comments.
“He is a loser, please he early as early as super living death,” 向南 wrote.
“Provoke others who go will never be they respect,” Chinh Duong wrote.
“You won the game, but no one will respect you,” Badbigbang wrote.
Others brought up his fellow Aussie teammates’ misuse of prescription drugs, especially Stilnox, back in 2012.
“Did you forget about the London Olympics four years ago? Collective doping?” 李金泽 wrote.
7News Australia decided to conduct a poll, “Should Mack Horton apologise for calling Sun Yang a ‘drug cheat’?” An hour after it was posted, results were favored to the “no” side with a 69% majority. But as soon as Chinese netizens got wind of the poll, the results flipped and now shows 74% for “yes.”
The top comment from WeiMiao Guo Grosser reads:
“Sun Yang is clean and passed the drug test, he deserves respect just as much as any other athlete competing in that pool. Nobody is talking about the 2012 Australia men’s swimming team’s drug violation, but it seems people here have really short memory and think Australian swimmers have always been clean! Apologize and move on!”
As well as insults, netizens have made Horton into a meme and edited a picture of him biting his gold medal.
mackhorton_sy_rio.jpg
Chinese netizens weren’t the only ones calling Horton out. The nationalistic tabloid the Global Times has not only criticized Horton, but the entirety of Australia. Horton is characterized in the editorial as a hypocrite for taking the moral high ground while alleging that Sun is a cheat and someone who “doesn’t have the spirit of an Olympian.” The editorial also lambasted the Australian media for praising Horton’s statement. It finally concludes by saying: “Westerners stated that Australia is on the edge of civilized society and that it was once England’s prison. This means that their uncultured acts aren’t surprising. We can’t say we disagree with such thoughts.”
Of course, this isn’t the first time that the Global Times has attacked Australia.
The competition between the two is far from over. On August 12th, Sun and Horton will compete again in the 1500-meter freestyle race. May the best man win.
By Sarah Lin
[Images via Facebook / CCTV]

Share this:

  • Pocket
  • Telegram
  • Print
Shanghaiist

© 2005-2018 Shanghaiist - China in bite-sized portions!

Navigate Site

  • About
  • Advertise
  • Be a Patron
  • Join the Community
  • List Your Event
  • Be a Venue Partner
  • Submit a Gallery
  • Work with us
  • Privacy & Terms
  • Contact

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • NEWS
  • L!FE
  • FOOD
  • GALLERY
  • VIDEO
  • TICKETS
    • FAQ
  • ★ BE A PATRON
    • ★ DONATE

© 2005-2018 Shanghaiist - China in bite-sized portions!