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Horton, 20, beat Sun Yang by just one thirteenth of a second in the 400 metres freestyle on Day 1 of the Olympics at the Olympic Aquatic Stadium on Saturday. Referring to the Chinese swimmer's 3-month suspension for doping in 2014, Horton leading up to the event labeled his rival a "drug cheat." Sun Yang had tried to connect with the Australian swimmer when the two were training earlier in the week. The Australia however gave him the silent treatment, telling newspapers afterwards he ignored him because he has no respect for "drug cheats." Commenting on this in response to questions after the race, Horton said: "It got played up a bit but he splashed me to say hi and I ignored him, I don't have time or respect for drug cheats." "He wasn't too happy about that so he kept splashing me and I just got in and did my thing." Even when he clinched the Gold, Horton rejected his rival's offer of congratulations in the pool.
When the post-match conference came about Horton continued on relentlessly, continuing to refer to the Chinese swimmer's bout with doping repeatedly referring to him as a drug cheat. Even when Sun Yang burst into tears, the Australian swimmer did not relent. "I used the word 'drug cheat' because he tested positive," Horton told reporters in front of his Chinese rival. "I just have a problem with him testing positive and still competing." He later revealed the taunting was a tactic. Why he continued sledging and verbally bullying the swimmer well after the event however is unclear. "On the competition stage, every athlete deserves to be respected and there's no need to use these sort of cheap tricks to affect each other," Sun Yang replied when asked what he thought of Horton's actions. Horton won the event, clocking a time of 3:41.55 seconds. Sun Yang swam the race in 3:41.68. Chinese fans of Sun Yang and the Olympics slammed Horton on social media with one saying he hopes "he gets killed by a local kangaroo."
Editor: Mack has every right to enjoy his win, however those he swims against are entitled to his respect. Competitors at the Olympic Games are subject to extraordinary scrutiny. There is no question Sun Yang swam on his merits and by the barest of margins lost. It would be hard for any athlete to withstand the tactics Horton employed and persisted with even after his success. It begs the question, if Horton had relied on completing the swim on his own merits and not employing the tactic of sledging that he did, whether he would have won. We will never know. Sledging is a common tactic in Cricket and professional contact sports, used to gain an advantage by insulting or verbally intimidating an opponent. It should have no place at the Olympics. Mack Horton made Australia proud on Saturday, but the news of his conduct behind the scenes and his blatant lack of sportsmanship has diminished his standing. Australians don't like drug cheats but they also don't like bad sports.
Australian Gold Medal winner admits insulting and intimidating rival to gain advantage
Whether Horton was justified in employing such tactics or not, Sun Yang, who won the Silver Medal in the race claimed by Horton, did not deserve such a stinging and extended personal attack. Now that is has become known it was a tactic to give the Australian swimmer an advantage, it is all the more questionable. So what of Sun Yang, and is in fact he a "drug cheat." The authorities that tested him and ruled against him say not. The World Anti-Doping Authority which reviewed the case accepted the regulator's finding. The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) on November 24 2014 announced Sun had tested positive for trimetazidine, a substance normally used to treat angina. According to Reuters the stimulant was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) banned list that year. "I have taken many doping tests during years of training and competition and I had never failed one before," Sun told China's official Xinhua news agency at the time. "I was shocked and depressed at that time, but at the same time it made me cherish my sporting life even more. I will take it as a lesson and be more careful in the future."
CHINADA, according to Reuters, said Sun tested positive in May 2014 during the national swimming championships and although the result was "not very serious" it still warranted a penalty. Sun also copped a 5,000 RMB ($816) fine. The China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) could have imposed a longer ban but said it decided on three months because Sun had been given medication, normally used to combat angina, by a doctor to treat a heart issue and was unaware it had been added to WADA's banned list that year, Reuters reported. Yang's doctor was given a 12-months ban by the authority.[ "Sun Yang in this matter was not completely responsible and the positive test is his mistake, but the mistake is not very serious or negligent," Zhao Jia, Deputy Director of CHINADA said. "Because of this, the three-month ban is reasonable." "Sun had proved with sufficient evidence that he did not intend to cheat, which helped reduce his ban to three months." Zhao added "His failure to inform the doping control official should be punished all the same."
Sun defended himself at a hearing in July 2014, saying he had been prescribed the drug for heart palpitations he had suffered since 2008 and was unaware that it was recently banned (the drug had been put on the banned list on January 1 2014. China's national swimming championships took place in May). Media reports have referred to the suspension as being done in secret as the news of the suspension did not come until later in the year. Zhao Jia denies this. "We announce positive cases and test statistics in our quarterly reports as WADA requires," he said. WADA however disputes this, saying, "Section 14.2.2 of the World Anti-Doping Code requires violations must be publicly reported within 20 days and that decisions have to be sent to WADA in the same time-period." Ben Nichols, WADA Senior Manager of Media Relations was asked by Swimming World magazine to clarify the circumstances around the Sun Yang case. Nichols wrote "to clarify, under the current list, Trimetazidine is currently prohibited in-competition only until the end of 2014. For the 2015 List, you will see it has moved (to) section S.4.5." He clarified that Trimetazidine was reclassified and downgraded that same year. As of January 1 2015, it was no longer on the banned stimulant list. "It has been moved to the newly created sub-section S4.5.c as it is pharmacologically classified as a modulator of cardiac metabolism," the WADA says.
The world's anti-doping authority in December 2014, after reviewing all the evidence decided not to take any action, and announced it would not appeal the CHINADA ruling. "WADA has reviewed the full case file for the Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and has decided not to appeal the decision by the Chinese Swimming Federation to impose a three month sanction," WADA spokesman Ben Nichols told AFP in a statement. "WADA has written to CHINADA however, raising its concern over the delayed public reporting of the case," the spokesman added. "Between 40% to 60% of positive test doping results were inadvertent (non-deliberate) cases," John Ruger, U.S. Olympic Committee Ombudsman, told the Tackling Doping in Sport, Global Conference in the UK in March 2013 . 'In many cases like these, the athlete is punished and accomplishments become questionable in the eyes of many resulting in the athlete being unjustly tainted for life. Sun Yang is likely to face this for the remainder of his swimming career,' Swimming World said in its report.
Sun Yang is no drug cheat
After the first day of racing in the Olympic Regatta on Monday athletes drenched and dripping after hours of racing scoffed at questions about their safety and risks to their health from studies showing high levels of bacteria and viruses. Many said the dangers of sailing in Rio have been overblown and worried that the water concerns are overshadowing some of the most exciting and challenging sailing of their lives. Worse, they fear it could undermine one of the best chances ever to expand interest in a sport that demands both physical prowess and keen intelligence. "People exaggerate about this, obviously it isn't great, but it's not bad either," Tom Burton, Australia's entry in the men's one-person Laser dinghy class. "I didn't see any tide lines with garbage on it. The water is fine, I've been here a long time and it's fine."
Sailors compete in the Women's Laser Radial class on Day 4 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Marina da Gloria
In the weeks before the regatta, similar feelings were expressed by Erik Heil, skipper of Germany's Olympic entry into the 49er two-man skiff class. Heil made headlines after being treated in Germany for an antibiotic-resistant, flesh-eating Staphylococcus infection that chewed small craters into his leg after a test regatta in Rio last year. He said there was really no way of knowing where he got the infection which exists naturally on many people's bodies. Brazilian sailors, many of whom grew up on the bay, know of the problems and feel critics are being overly squeamish. The highly ranked British, German and Croatian sailing teams have said they are taking precautions, such as hepatitis vaccines, showering off after races, protecting water bottles in Ziploc bags and using mouthwash if they get lots of water in their mouths.
Olympic Athletes Are Essentially Defenseless Against Rio's Horribly Polluted Water
But they also add that these are the same precautions they take in many other sailing venues. Australia's rowing team, competing on Rio's Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon - also criticized for pollution - have said much the same, adding that they face similar risks training at home and in Europe. "I've sailed in worse conditions and think the water pollution situation is exaggerated," said Andrew Lewis, Trinidad & Tobago's entry in the men's Laser. "This is my fifth time back to Rio, and I've never gotten sick and never got any infection," he said. "It's time for all this complaining to stop."
Olympics-Sailing-Athletes fed up with Rio water-quality complaints
Confusion abounded at the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre as the normally azure pool water turned a swampy green for the women's synchronised 10m platform final. Divers were forced to compete in water the colour sea lions - rather than Olympians - are accustomed to performing in. Questions were asked on social media. Had Shrek taken an overnight dip? Was it because Roald Dahl's BFG had been drinking frobscottle?
On Monday, Tom Daley and Daniel Goodfellow had won bronze in then picture-perfect conditions and even Daley did not know what had happened to the clear water he had dived into just 24 hours earlier. "Erm, what happened," tweeted the Briton. At the Aquatics Centre, Pedro Adrega, head of communications at Fina, swimming's governing body, was flabbergasted, suggesting that the athletes had perhaps requested for the colour change to lessen the effects of the sun's glare. Inside the press room, American photographers chatted about the possibility of the water having not been treated properly overnight, causing a drop in chlorine levels and the formation of algae.
As the competition progressed, the water looked more like pea green soup while the pool next to it - where water polo and synchronised swimming is held - remained in perfect health. "I've never dived in anything like it," said Britain's Tonia Couch, who finished fifth alongside Lois Toulson. "We noticed it in the warm-up and then by the competition it was even more green but if anything it actually made it a bit easier to spot (tell where the water was while spinning through the air), so it didn't make a difference though (to the result)."
Once competition was over, organisers released a statement to say that they were still investigating the cause of what was being described on social media as pool gate. "It's very important to the Rio 2016 community to ensure a high quality of play," read the statement. "Tests were conducted and the water was found to be safe. We're investigating what the cause was."
Rio 2016: 'I've never dived in anything like it' - Olympic pool turns green
If they keep having the Olympics in 3rd world countries there will be no more Olympics
It's a radical Leftist notion that all countries are equal and equally qualified to hold the Games. This is BS.
It's the newest form of wealth redistribution. It used to be the Olympics were hosted by the most modern, well run cities in the world. Now they look for poor shitholes they believe richer nations ought to be paying out to.
If you want your city to host the Olympics, make sure its people are kept poor with communism, pump sewage directly into the water, and don't enforce law and order so criminals and organized crime run unbridled in the streets. Do all this and the Olympics selection committee will pity you and set you up for the long overdue payday the world owes you.
^^^^^ idiot ^^^^^If Trump wins, we'll be a 3rd world country.
The highest profile broken promise means large amounts of untreated sewage is still flowing into Guanabara Bay, where the Olympic sailing events will take place. Olympic organizers had said 80 percent of the wastewater produced by the nine million people that live around the Bay would be treated by the time the Games started. Now officials admit that the new sewage treatment plants that have been installed will clean up only 48 percent of the waste. Some say the real figure is much lower than that. A number of international sailors reported falling ill or suffering infections after entering the water several months ago, and stories of athletes feeling uncomfortable about competing in water that smells fetid continue today. "They [athletes] should have complete confidence that Rio 2016 and the International Olympic Committee and the Brazilian authorities will put their health in first place," Richard Budgett, the head of the International Olympic Committee's medical team told reporters this week, seeking to allay their fears. "I am sure that the water will be of a good enough quality to ensure a safe competition."
The Rio Olympics have also been taken to task for not cleaning up the Jacarepagua Lagoon that surrounds the Olympic Park. Plans to dredge the bottom of the lagoon were suspended for a period after Brazil's Federal Prosecutor identified irregularities in the tendering process and other procedural problems, such as the lack of an environmental impact study. Then, last August, about a ton of dead fish had to be removed from the Lagoon. The fish reportedly died after strong winds disturbed decades worth of pollutants that released their toxins into the main body of water. Zee, the biologist, emphasizes that while there are no Olympic events in the lagoon, it lies close to the Olympic Village where athletes are housed. "The decomposition of the sewage and organic material can produce sulfide gas. Strong winds can disturb the bottom of the lagoon and give off this gas," he said. " It can cause nausea and headaches, if you're exposed to it for a long time." Rio's authorities have also dropped the ball on a promise to plant 24 million seedlings to compensate for the carbon emissions caused by the Games. With just days to go, they have planted 5.5 million.
Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes, has denied that the Olympics have failed to deliver an environmental legacy. He recently cited the controversial golf course, constructed in a protected area, as evidence of improvements. Paes also hailed the unfinished sewage treatment work in Guanabara Bay as a relative success because sewage treatment had been improved from 15 percent to 50 percent, even if the 80 percent target was still far off. "That's an increase of 30 percent," he said. "You can't say that nothing has been done." This was not enough to impress biologist Valerie Harwood who advised travellers "don't put your heads underwater" after being shown the results of a study of the water commissioned by the Associated Press. "Seeing that level of pathogenic virus is pretty much unheard of in surface waters in the US, she told the agency in a story published this week. "You would never ever see these levels because we treat our wastewater." Rio 2016's inability to deliver on its environmental pledges is reminiscent of the broken promises also left by Brazil's 2014 World Cup. According to the National Association of Urban Transport Companies, only 18 percent of 125 urban mobility projects promised for the tournament are currently in operation.
It also echoes the disappointments of other Olympics. The London 2012 Games did reduce emissions during construction work and improved the city's public transit network. Even so, a joint WWF-UK/BioRegional report criticized the event's inability to meet its renewable energy targets. Environmentalists have also alleged that construction work at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, have seriously damaged the region's natural ecosystems. It is also true that Rio's Olympics have brought some improvements in public transportation — even if the extension of the city's westbound metro line inaugurated last week will only be open to athletes, Olympic workers, and spectators during the event itself. But it is now indisputable that the Rio Games are immeasurably far from fulfilling those first grandiose environmental pledges. "These days, Olympic bids come chock full of so-called legacy projects that gleam green," Jules Boykoff, author of Power Games: A Political History of the Olympics. "But Rio 2016 is in the running for the most greenwashed Games ever."
Rio has broken its promise of an environment-friendly Olympics | VICE News
