Sun, atop the podium, fresh after his win, holds up his gold medal and appears to be overshadowing bronze medallist Gabriele Detti of Italy. But the real juxtaposition of emotions lies to the right of Sun, where Australia’s Horton stands erect like a soldier, hands behind his body, staring off into the distance, not aloof, but with politicised intent.

This was not the first time Horton had made his views on Sun public, but finally vindication appears complete.

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Horton, who now heads to Tokyo 2020 focused on defending his Olympic title, becomes yet another beacon for righteousness in the sporting world. To say Sun is an outlier would be a misnomer. In fact, he is probably the norm these days and his real error in our warped world is that he got caught in the first place.

Across the Pacific Ocean we have Major League Baseball’s sign-stealing scandal. The Houston Astros, who lost the most recent MLB World Series to the Washington Nationals, and won the title in 2017, have had both their accomplishments tainted. They used a video camera out in centrefield to relay the catcher’s signals to the pitcher. The idea was simple: batters would know what was coming; a curveball, fastball, or even a change-up. A big part of baseball is hitting, but an equally important part is figuring out when not to swing at a pitch.

Then there is Manchester City’s two-year ban from European competition laid down by Uefa (itself an organisation riddled with issues of corruption) for apparent financial regulation infringementsrelating to how much is allowed and how much is actually spent on a club owned by a multi-billionaire member of the Abu Dhabi royal family whose pockets are outright cavernous.

Of course, we can’t talk cheating without mentioning Russia, who last year were given a four-year ban from the Olympics and most global sporting events over doping. The World Anti-Doping Agency’s unanimous decision came as a surprise to no one, given Russia planned and executed one of the most elaborate state-sponsored doping violations during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

The sad thing is cheating – and doping in particular – has even started infecting fringe sports. Lefteris Theofanidis, a Greek CrossFit competitor, was recently found in breach of CrossFit’s drug testing policy. Theofanidis isn’t even a professional athlete, taking home some pocket change via sponsorships at best. This should give us all pause. Who in their right mind would resort to cheating when you are not even considered an amateur athlete, let alone a pro?

Horton’s stance is one we should all salute now. His sixth sense and characteristics of a drug-sniffing dog, able to suss out illegal smells the average human would miss, he knew something was amiss and stood his ground. One can imagine he’s made as many allies as enemies since he first spoke out against Sun in 2014, and has probably felt one heck of a sustained wrath from Chinese trolls in the past six years.

Justice has been served and we can once again hope there is a light at the end of this tunnel. Cheating in sports cheats everyone: the athletes, the fans, the teams and the overall genesis of sporting competition.

We love and admire our athletes because they give up their lives for their passions, putting in countless hours in lonely gyms, hitting the weights or swimming laps in the pool until the janitor comes in to turn off the lights.

Pictures of them atop podiums, tears streaming down their faces, finally rewarded for years of hard work, speaks volumes about the nature of human existence: that competition only brings out the best of us if we all play by the rules.