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Jonathan White

A potential flashpoint was defused when controversial Chinese swimmer Sun Yang changed lanes in the training pool on Wednesday to avoid being alongside his rival and biggest critic, Australian Mack Horton, as they prepared for the Fina World Championships in Gwangju, South Korea.
The pair had been given lanes three and four in the practice pool before Sun’s Australia-born coach, Dennis Cotterell, moved the Chinese swimmer to lane five.
Sun returned to lane four after the Australian swim team had left the pool.
There were fears of a potential flashpoint because of the previous war of words between the pair.

Horton has long been critical of Sun, notably speaking out after beating him to Olympic gold in the 400m freestyle at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
“I don’t have time or respect for drug cheats,” said Horton about Sun at the time. The Chinese swimmer had previously tested positive for banned substances.

Horton did not move from his lane in Gwangju on Wednesday, likely as he was concentrating on his training.
While Sun is the fastest man in the 400m this year, Horton is 15th quickest – clocking in almost four full seconds slower than his nemesis.
A hero in China, Sun is going for a fourth consecutive 400m crown at the worlds, an event he dominates. Horton is the only man to have beaten him in the event at a major meeting since 2011.

That lone victory came at Rio 2016, where Horton took the gold medal Sun was expected to win. There is a chance Sun will not get to put that right at the Tokyo Games next summer.
Sun faces a lifetime ban from the pool if he is found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport of charges that he and his team – including his mother – took hammers to vials containing the swimmer’s blood at an out of competition doping test at his home in Zhejiang last September.
He was cleared of allegations by Fina in January but Wada has appealed and that appeal will be heard in September.
Sun Yang ‘the Harry Houdini of doping control’: rivals mock Chinese swimmer
Earlier this month, Australia’s Sunday Telegraph published the findings of Fina’s full 59-page report into the incident and revealed that Sun was cleared on a technicality.
The alleged incident came to light in a January report in British newspaper The Sunday Times. Sun’s Beijing-based lawyers were quick to reject those claims and threatened to sue the newspaper.
Chinese media and social media users were also quick to dismiss the claims against a man regarded by some as the “greatest swimmer of all time”. Sun is the only swimmer to win freestyle Olympic golds at 200m, 400m and 1,500m.

China's national swimming team confirmed on Thursday that 1,500m freestyle world record holder Sun Yang will not take part in that event at the 2019 FINA World Aquatics Championships. pic.twitter.com/FMZGo1s33J
— China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) July 12, 2019

Horton was silent when the allegations came to light and it has been reported that he has not commented on Sun being cleared to compete at the worlds.
Until the appeal is heard, Sun is free to swim at the world championships and the pair could meet as soon as Sunday when the swimming events get under way.


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World Aquatics Championships

Sun Yang and Mack Horton separated after Chinese and Australian swimmers given adjoining training lanes

China's Sun Yang (top C) attends a training session with coach Denis Cotterell (foreground). Photo: AFP

China's Sun Yang, bottom left, listens to his coach Dennis Cottrell, right, during a training session ahead of swimming competitions at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Tuesday, July 16, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

China's Sun Yang rests during a training session at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Thursday, July 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

China's Sun Yang swims during a training session at the World Swimming Championships in Gwangju, South Korea, Thursday, July 18, 2019. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Australian newspaper obtains full FINA doping panel report on Chinese Olympic swimming champion  Sun Yang

China's Sun Yang after the final of the men's 1500m freestyle swimming event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. Sun used a hammer to destroy his own blood sample, according to an explosive FINA doping panel report obtained by Australia's Sunday Telegraph. Photo: AFP

FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, China's gold medal winner Sun Yang waves during the medal ceremony for the men's 200-meter freestyle final during the swimming competitions at the 2016 Summer Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. China's star swimmer Sun Yang risks being banned from the Tokyo Olympics for the alleged destruction of a doping control sample, according to information made available Wednesday March 13, 2019, from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, FILE)

(FILES) In this file photo taken on August 24, 2018, China's Sun Yang competes in the final of the men’s 1500m freestyle swimming event during the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. - China's controversial swimming star Sun Yang used a hammer to destroy his own blood sample, according to an explosive FINA doping panel report obtained by Australia's Sunday Telegraph. The triple Olympic champion and a security guard smashed vials of blood collected after independent testers visited the athlete's villa in Zhejiang Province last September, the newspaper reported on July 13, 2019 citing the panel's previously unpublished 59-page dossier. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

Sun Yang faces lifetime ban: Chinese swim star’s career in balance as Wada appeal to CAS to overthrow Fina inaction over doping incident

Sun Yang stands on the podium holding his national flag after receiving his gold medal in the men’s 400m freestyle final at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta in 2018. Photo: AP

FILE PHOTO: China's Sun Yang celebrates after he won the men's 400m freestyle final at the London 2012 Olympic Games at the Aquatics Centre July 28, 2012. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

Sun Yang scandal: It’s fake news say China swim chiefs as social media backs Olympic champion in face of doping allegations

China’s Sun Yang is in tears after winning the men's 1,500m freestyle at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia. Photo: EPA

epa06968982 Sun Yang of China reacts after winning the gold medal in the men's 1,500m Freestyle swimming final at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, 24 August 2018. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

(180824) -- JAKARTA, Aug. 24, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Gold medalist Sun Yang (C) of China and bronze medalist Ji Xinjie (R) of China pose for pictures after the awarding ceremony of men's 1500m freestyle final of swimming at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

(180824) -- JAKARTA, Aug. 24, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Sun Yang (Top) of China competes during men's 1500m freestyle final of swimming at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Yue Yuewei)

China’s Sun Yang faces life ban for smashing blood samples in front of anti-doping testers: report

China's Sun Yang prepares to swim in the men's 1,500m freestyle final during the 2018 Asian Games. Photo: AP

(180824) -- JAKARTA, Aug. 24, 2018 (Xinhua) -- Gold medalist Sun Yang of China attends the awarding ceremony of men's 1500m freestyle final of swimming at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Aug. 24, 2018. (Xinhua/Fei Maohua)

Sport

China

China star asked to switch lanes by coach to move away from rivals at World Championships in South Korea
Swimming gets underway on Sunday as Sun looks for fourth title in a row ahead of September hearing


China star asked to switch lanes by coach to move away from rivals at World Championships in South Korea.


Sun Yang