[Answer] How should we evaluate Australian swimmer Horton’s refusal to stand on the podium at the 2019 World Championships 400m freestyle medal ceremony?

[Answer] How should we evaluate Australian swimmer Horton’s refusal to stand on the podium at the 2019 World Championships 400m freestyle medal ceremony?

Trash talk doesn’t matter much; what really counts is performance in the pool. If Horton had won gold and still refused to share the podium with the silver medalist, that would have shown real backbone. That’s my first point.

My second point is that, as an individual, you’re free to dislike anyone in the world. But once you compete on behalf of a country, your personal feelings toward others should come last. The part Sun Yang got wrong is this: Horton was disrespecting his own country, not me. It has nothing to do with me.