Sorry, folks, but the long-awaited 1500m showdown between rivals Mack Horton and Sun Yang won’t be happening after all, with the defending champion eliminated from competition after finishing seventh in his preliminary heat.
Horton finished second in the heat, with a time of 14:48.57, which was a strong enough swim to qualify him for a place in the final. The USA’s Jordan Wilimovsky came in first, with a time of 14:48.23.
Yang, who had previously proclaimed himself as the “king” of the 1500m, lagged behind the pack, eventually finishing with a time of 15:01.97, ahead of the UK’s Tim Shuttleworth, who came in last place.
Following Yang’s victory in the 200m, reports began to emerge claiming that he was in ill-health and suffering from a fever; “Sun Yang has a cold” was a trending topic on Chinese social networking site Weibo overnight.
Australian swimming champ and Rio 2016 commentator Giaan Rooney said of his 1500m prospects: “He was talking it up early in the week, but he has been struck down with some kind of virus we believe.”
Rooney’s fellow commentator Basil Zempilas was sceptical, hinting that widespread reports of Yang’s illness may have been part of an effort to protect his reputation, and adding “it’s interesting that we all knew he was sick.”
Last week, Horton came close to starting an international incident when, after beating Yang to gold in the 400m freestyle, he branded his rival a “drug cheat”, in reference to his 2014 ban for doping.
The 1500m final is set for Sunday morning, Australian time. All eyes are now on Horton to see if he can deliver another gold.
Source: News Corp.
Photo: Jean Catuffe / Getty.
