Mack Horton ready for Sun Yang rematch

Even after a year of constant social media trolling, Australia’s Mack Horton does not regret making a stand for clean sport.

Mack Horton acknowledges the crowd at the Australian titles earlier this year. Photo: Getty Images

Even after a year of constant social media trolling from Chinese swimming fans, Australia’s Olympic 400m freestyle champion Mack Horton does not regret making a stand for clean sport at last year’s Rio Games.

Horton famously called out his Chinese rival Sun Yang as a drug cheat at last year’s Rio Games, and repeated that accusation yesterday leading into the world championships, which start in Budapest tonight.

Two days ahead of their rematch over 400m in Budapest, Horton was asked about his rivalry with Sun and responded: “I don’t know if it’s a rivalry (between us). I think it’s a rivalry between clean athletes and athletes who have tested positive, but there should be some good racing.”

Horton’s words attracted such a virulent reaction on social media during the Games last year that the Australian Olympic team blocked his accounts to protect the 20-year-old freestyler.

The stream of vitriol has continued into this year but Horton shrugs it off and said it had not persuaded him to tone down his comments.

“I think I would still do the same thing, even if I knew the outcome. I don’t think it changes anything.’’

Sun served a secret three-month suspension in 2014 after giving a positive test to a banned heart medication. He had served the doping ban and returned to competition before it was announced that he had fallen foul of the rules.

The perception that the International Swimming Federation (FINA) is too soft in its approach to champion swimmers who violate the anti-doping rules led to vocal protests in Rio against those who have been seen to get off lightly, including Sun and Russia’s Yulia Efimova, who has twice been charged with doping offences.

She won her case in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to be allowed to compete in Rio last year and continues to defy popular opinion within the sport.

She has just released a range of signature T-shirts, one of which bears the slogan “Go to CAS’’. That is unlikely to go down well with her fellow swimmers, many of whom have spoken out against her.

This week’s world championships may well play out in the same acrimonious atmosphere that featured in Rio.

Olympic 200m freestyle champion Sun, who is coached by Australian Denis Cotterell, has been in fine form this year over both 200m and 400m.

He leads the 400m world rankings with a best of 3:42.16, two seconds faster than third-ranked Horton’s best so far this year of 3:44.18.

But the 21-year-old Australian, who won the Olympic crown in 3:41.55, warned his rivals not to underestimate him in Budapest.

He may not have swum particularly fast yet but he feels he has had a strong preparation and he exuded confidence at yesterday’s press conference.

“I don’t think anyone is that stupid (as to underestimate him), but it would be nice,’’ he said.

Unexpectedly, Horton said that he believed FINA and the International Olympic Committee had made the wrong decision by including the men’s 800m freestyle in the 2020 Games program for Tokyo.

That is a potential medal event for Horton but he argued that the program he will take on in Budapest this week, of 200m, 400m, 800m and 1500m freestyle, plus the 4 X 200m freestyle relay, was too big to do at the Olympics.

Horton said the 800m was surplus to requirements and FINA should have just replaced the women’s 800m with the 1500m, rather than adding new distance events.

“I think the 1500 should have been in for women a long time ago I think we should all be swimming 1500, but the 800 doesn’t really make sense,’’ he said.

“For the (pure) 1500 swimmers the 800 is good, but for the 400-1500 swimmers, when you already have a massive week, it makes it a bit more difficult. I don’t rate it as an event at the Olympics because the 1500 is the pinnacle distance event.”

Horton predicted it would lead to swimmers being forced to choose between the 400m and 1500m in order to include the 800m in their Olympic program.

Horton said he felt “relaxed’’ about his prospects for these championships and did not feel the need to redeem himself after a parasitic infection affected his performance at the last world titles, where he won a bronze medal in the 800m freestyle, but missed the final of the 400m and 1500m.

However he is particularly keen to put together a truly top-class 1500m race at a major championships for the first time.

In contrast to his prickly relationship with Sun, Horton has a strong friendship with the Italian Olympic 1500m champion Gregorio Paltrinieri, who has had the better of their encounters over the metric mile to date. But they will put friendship on hold when they race head to head this week.

“It would be nice if I am on the higher podium and he is on the lower one and I will look down on him,’’ Horton said.