China’s Sun Yang awkwardly embraced arch nemesis Mack Horton on the podium after beating the Australian Olympian at the world championships on Sunday.
Horton, 21, planted the seed for a rivalry for the ages when he dismissed Sun as a ‘drug cheat’ before upsetting the defending champ to take gold on his Olympic debut at Brazil’s Rio Games last year.
Horton even had another chop before the world titles began, saying his clash with Sun was a ‘rivalry between clean athletes and athletes who have tested positive’.
But it wasn’t to be, with Yang surging home to touch the wall 2.47 seconds ahead of Horton in the 400m freestyle finals at Budapest for his eighth world titles gold.
Chinese swimming fans flooded Horton’s personal social media accounts with vile insults after the loss, calling the Australian star ‘disgusting’, ‘racist’ and ‘a loser’.
‘What a shame for you racist Aussie,’ added another.
The bombardment of abuse from trolls online bore an eerie resemblance to the attention Horton received after calling out Yang during the Rio Olympics.
Horton had dubbed Sun a ‘drugs cheat’ after the Chinese swimmer served a three-month ban in 2014 for testing positive to a stimulant.
‘You are too complacent and will die quickly,’ one Chinese fan wrote on Horton’s Instagram account.
Another said: ‘You are a loser for a lifetime because of your disrespect and the lose [sic] of the Olympic Spirit and international reputation.
But Horton bit his tongue after claiming a maiden 400m world titles medal, saying the timesheets – not Sun – bothered him most.
Horton clocked three minutes, 43.85 seconds – almost two and a half seconds outside his personal best.
Asked if it stung to lose to Sun, Horton said: ‘I think the time stings a bit more.
‘I tried to be a bit stronger in the front end but I was too soft – I needed to be a bit harder on myself.’
Horton also wouldn’t bite when asked about Sun working with Australian coach Denis Cotterell.
‘You are touching on my sore spots,’ he said.
Sun refused to rub the win in Horton’s face, saying ‘plenty of water has gone under the bridge’ since Rio.
Unlike Rio, Sun dominated the 400m medal race to finish more than two body lengths ahead of Horton and claim his third world 400m crown.
Sun screamed after his win and sent a glare over to Horton’s lane before raising his finger to remind the Aussie who was now No.1.
The pair later exchanged an awkward handshake on the medal podium that Horton later admitted more resembled an arm wrestle.
‘It was entertaining, I think,’ Horton laughed, describing their podium moment.
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