Australian swimming great and Olympic champion Mack Horton retires ahead of Paris Games

Olympic champion Mack Horton has called it a day, pulling the plug on his swimming career just six months before what he had hoped to be his swansong in Paris.

Olympic champion Mack Horton has announced his retirement from swimming just six months before what he had hoped to be his swansong in Paris.

The 400m freestyle gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Horton is a legend of the sport not only for his feats in the pool but also for his strong crusade to stamp out doping in the sport – which led to his explosive confrontations with his now banned Chinese rival Sun Yang.

Recently married to his high school sweetheart Ella, Horton had been hoping to swim through to this year’s Paris Olympics but said his motivation was waning so he was hanging up his goggles now.

“I dearly wanted to swim in Paris but the hunger wasn’t there,” he said.

“I always want to give my all and I am not someone who just wants to make up the numbers, so this is the right time to step away.

“I have felt so privileged to represent Australia and wear the green and gold … I just hope Australia thinks I did them proud.”

Horton also won a gold medal in his pet event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games as well as a stack of relay medals but had been struggling for form in recent years and battling to make the team after the emergence of Sam Short and Elijah Winnington.

Horton did not qualify for the 400m at the Tokyo Olympics, but won a bronze medal for swimming a heat of the relay, then missed selection altogether for last year’s world championships in Japan.

It was the first time he had missed out on the Dolphins team since he made his senior debut in 2014 and led him into re-evaluating how much longer he would continue.

“Mack is a person of great influence with constructive insights, and he is just a quality person. I want to express heartfelt gratitude to Mack for his achievements in and out of the water,” Australian head coach Rohan Taylor said.

“He was a world-class competitor, and a person with a high level of integrity. I know he is content with this decision, and he will be enormously successful in the next stage of his life.”

Mack Horton celebrates gold after 400m freestyle at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Martin Bureau/AFP Photo

Horton became a national hero with his heart-stopping victory over Sun in Rio, then a global statesman for his brave stance against the sport’s lax approach to tackling doping when he refused to stand on the medal podium at the 2019 world championships.

Swimming officials allowed Sun to compete at the world titles even though he was facing a serious charge of tampering with his samples at an out of competition doping test at his home in China.

He was later suspended, initially for eight years then reduced to four on appeal, and hasn’t raced internationally since.

Hailed as a hero in many countries for his unwavering commitment to clean sport, Horton also came under attack from Sun’s fanatical Chinese fans but never flinched.

“I don’t have any regrets,” he said. “Only that the years went so quickly.”

Horton will not be lost to the sport altogether though after he was appointed this week as the new president of the Australian Swimmers Association, replacing Bronte Campbell.

Originally published as Australian swimming great and Olympic champion Mack Horton retires ahead of Paris Games