Opinion | Sun Yang scandal: Mack Horton stands tall in the golden age of professional cheats in sport
- The Australian swimmer now stands as a reminder to us all: cheating is rampant in sports and something we need to stay vigilant about
- From the MLB to Uefa, cheating on and off the field continues to bleed into all disciplines as leagues and governing bodies scramble to sustain order
They say a picture can be worth a thousand words.
In this case, the image tells not only a story, but paints a larger metanarrative of where sport is at in 2020: that professional athletes are actively cheating, staining the very nature of competition. Widespread, infecting various leagues, tainting past wins, and calling victories into question until the gold medal winner heads off to the washroom and pees into a cup.
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.
