In the final of the men's 200m medley at the Tokyo Olympics, China's Wang Shun won the gold medal with a time of 1 minute and 55 seconds, breaking the Asian record. This is the first gold medal of the men's event of the Chinese swimming team in this event, and it is also the 16th gold medal won by our country in this Olympic Games. It's a great thing to be true.
But I think of two people, one is Sun Yang and the other is Mark Horton.
01 Uncultured Horton insulted Sun Yang three times and twice
Mark Horton and China's swimming star Sun Yang are direct competitors.
On August 7, 2016, in the men's 400m freestyle final, Australian Mark Horton won the Olympic title for the first time. But Horton suddenly said: "Sun Yang swims very well, the results are also very good, thanks to his performance, let our competition is more precious." When the reporter asked him about Sun Yang, he said: "I said so, because he did test positive." "I am not targeting Sun Yang, but I have opinions on people who have shown positive drug tests."
Horton previously told Australian media that Sun Yang greeted him during training, but he chose to ignore it because he did not want to say hello to the doping scammers. As a result, Horton still formed a bond with Sun Yang.
In the men's 400m freestyle final at the 2017 World Swimming Championships in Budapest, Horton lost to Sun Yang and won the second place. In the 400m freestyle final of the 2019 Gwangju Swimming World Championships, he lost to Sun Yang again and won the second place. Sun Yang graciously invited Horton to take a group photo, but Horton arrogantly refused.
FINA issued a statement warning the Australian swimming regulatory body and Horton. FINA executive director Marcoolescu criticized Horton for putting swimming to shame. But Horton went his own way.
Horton declined to take a photo
The Chinese Swimming Association is very indignant about Horton's personal remarks, so it sent an email to the Australian Swimming Association to issue a formal protest: "Horton's vicious words and deeds of malicious personal attacks, we believe that his inappropriate remarks have greatly damaged the feelings of Chinese and Australian swimming, damaged the image of Australian athletes, and are a manifestation of lack of quality and education." We strongly demand an apology from the athlete!" But the Australian Swimming Association said: This is Horton's personal remarks.
Why did Horton target Sun Yang?
Because in the past few years, of all the 200-1500m freestyle events, Australia has only won the gold medal once, while Sun Yang has won 14 pieces. The 1500-meter world record of Hackett, the king of Australian freestyle, was broken by Sun Yang twice in a row, and he was naturally questioned more and the number of flight drug tests was also more.
This is the feud between Horton and Sun Yang. Not only Horton, but the whole of Australia is very irrational as if he was poisoned. The sharp decline in Australian exports is related to this. And the specific reason, here omitted 1000 words, you can ask the lady. Or leave a message at the end of the article to ask a question.
02 25-year-old mouth cannon Horton, the results are getting worse
However, an athlete is to speak by performance, not by mouth.
Mark Horton is only 25 years old this year, he is not a talented swimmer like Phelps and Sun Yang, so his results are not dazzling, only won the men's 400m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics, and then there was no result. So he is not very well-known.
From 2019 to 2021, Horton has not had an outstanding record in the individual competitions of 200, 400 and 800. At the 2019 FINA World Championships, in fact, Horton's strength has seriously declined. Horton, who only finished 14th and could not qualify, argued: "I didn't put too much effort into the 800m, my energy was more on the 200m and 400m, and the 800m was just a side event for me." But in fact, Horton did not participate in the 200-meter freestyle this time.
Obviously, the Current Olympic Champion has passed the peak and cannot find the best form in the individual event. But Horton was still selected for the Australian swimming team's final roster. It's just that Horton's main task is the relay race.
He also came to the Tokyo Olympics this time, but the single event was not selected, only a team event 4 by 200 meters freestyle, and finally third.
The Australian swimming team's Tokyo Olympic Trials began on June 12, and Horton, who had won the gold medal in the men's 400-meter freestyle at the Rio Olympics, ranked behind two teammates, and according to Australian media reports, he will not qualify for the Olympic games.
After the game, Horton told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation in frustration that he had done his best in the game and hoped his teammates would achieve a good result in the Olympic event. Horton, 25, needs to do better in events such as the 200-meter freestyle to compete for Olympic qualification for the Australian swimming team.
The Australian swimming team itself is the top four swimming team, so the masters are like clouds, and the replacement is also very fast. Horton has actually gone from being a bench player to a substitute and relay due to a decline in strength, and that's the reality.
If Horton doesn't work harder, he won't be seen at the next Paris Olympics. But what is even more regrettable is that our "Big Poplar" Sun Yang also can't participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games for specific reasons.
The so-called "if you want to destroy a man, you must first make him crazy." Arrogance is a manifestation of a person's ignorance and vulgarity, and if there is no strength and arrogance, it is a kind of stupidity.