It’s certainly been the case among Chinese social media users, who have been quick to comment in light of Australian Mack Horton’s very public spat with China’s Sun Yang over the course of the championships in South Korea.
Horton refused to take the podium with Sun as the Chinese swimmer awaits a September hearing at the Court of Abitration for Sport over destroying samples of his blood at an in-home test last year.
Fina boss Cornel Marculescu said Jack was not the only swimmer being investigated for doping and there were “another two” with cases opened on them.
Articles on these latest developments on Chinese website Sina Sports generated tens of thousands of comments on Monday.
Some social media commenters joked that the other swimmers would blame their positive tests on Nongfu Spring, the Chinese water brand which is the official Fina partner.
Others preferred to speculate on the identities of the other swimmers being investigated. One hoped Britain’s Duncan Scott and American Lilly King were the others under investigation. Scott refused to shake Sun’s hand after the 200m final and was then called a loser by the Chinese gold medallist. King was also outspoken about Fina’s decision to allow Sun to compete in South Korea as he waits for September’s hearing.
Another user joked that it would be “interesting” if Horton was one of the others under investigation.
Horton’s coach, Jacco Verhaeren, had said he believes the swimmer would have gone through with his protests against Sun even if he had known about Jack. Horton has since spoken on Jack’s positive tests.
“I applaud the decision to immediately withdraw the athlete in question from further competition until this matter is resolved,” he said.
“My position remains firm – clean sport must be a priority for all athletes, all sports and all nations.”
This was met with comments that Horton was a hypocrite and that Australians were “shameless”.
Sun had the last word as he left Gwangju, calling out Horton and Scott.
“There are millions of swimmers in the world. A couple of guys won't influence me,” the 200m and 400m gold medallist said.
“I don't want to get into a fight with those haters. Mack will then just answer back and the whole thing escalates and turns into a tit-for-tat.”
Sun also claimed he was a champion for the rights of athletes, and destroying vials of blood with a hammer in front of testers was proof of that.
“I think Fina has already made a statement to say that I didn't break any rules and I obeyed all the rules and what I did was to defend the rights of all athletes because if someone is not qualified to take blood, who knows what can happen,” Sun said.
“So what I did was to defend the rights of every athlete.
“What I say happened is proven and nothing I've said is fake. I have defended myself and I won't tolerate any disrespect from other athletes.”
Marculescu also spoke on Sun and Horton, suggesting the Australian’s issue was “probably more a personal issue than a doping issue”, as he wrapped up the worlds.
“It’s more, ‘You beat me, I must beat you somehow’,” Marculescu said, adding that those swimmers who decided to protest against Sun’s podiums could be filled with regret. “Sometimes we make mistakes.”
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