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Australian swimmer Mack Horton, who won an Olympic gold medal, has retired from swimming
Australian Olympic gold medalist Mack Horton, known for his rivalry with China’s Sun Yang, has officially announced his retirement from international swimming at the age of 27.
Expressing his decision, Horton stated, “I dearly wanted to swim in Paris, but the hunger wasn’t there,” as reported by Swimming Australia. He emphasized his commitment to giving his best in competitions and explained that he didn’t want to participate just for the sake of it. Therefore, he believes that stepping away from international swimming at this time is the right decision.
Horton gained prominence by winning the 400m freestyle on the opening night of the 2016 Rio Games. This victory was particularly significant as the Australian men’s swimmers had not secured any gold medals in the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games.
Prior to the final at the 2016 Rio Games, Mack Horton, the Australian swimmer, publicly referred to Sun Yang, the 2012 gold medalist in the 400m freestyle, as a “drug cheat.” Sun had faced a three-month suspension in 2014 for using a banned stimulant, although Chinese officials only disclosed the punishment after he had already served the suspension.
In a closely contested Olympic final, Horton went on to defeat Sun by a margin of 13 hundredths of a second.
Following the 2016 Rio Games, Mack Horton secured silver medals behind Sun Yang at both the 2017 and 2019 world championships.
During the 2019 championships, Horton made a symbolic protest by refusing to stand on the podium for the Chinese anthem and appeared to decline shaking hands with Sun. Instead, he stood slightly apart from Sun and bronze medalist Gabriele Detti of Italy during the customary post-medal ceremony photos.
This incident occurred while Sun Yang was facing a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing regarding an accusation related to the alleged destruction of a vial containing his own blood during a drug test the previous year.
Sun Yang received a suspension in 2020 that extends for more than four years, and this ban is set to conclude in May. As a result, the 32-year-old Sun will not be eligible to qualify for the Chinese team for the Paris Olympics, based on the selection procedures outlined by the nation’s swimming federation in the previous month.
In 2021, Mack Horton secured the third position in the 400m freestyle at the Australian Olympic Trials, narrowly missing a spot on the team by one position. Despite this, Horton later earned a place in the Australian 4x200m freestyle relay pool and went on to win a bronze medal in Tokyo, participating as a preliminary swimmer.
