An Olympic gold medalist is under assault from an army of Chinese trolls after making a jibe at the expense of his “drug cheat” rival.
Australian Mack Horton, who won the 400m men’s freestyle swimming contest, was on the sharp end of a huge fan backlash after his win over the weekend.
#apologizetosunyang @_mackhorton 大写的腊鸡！???????????? pic.twitter.com/TNUlbI7OPq
— December (@m18705198566) August 7, 2016
Horton’s foes are supporters of the Chinese silver medal winner, Sun Yang, who failed a drug test in 2014 and was suspended from the sport for three months.
Horton needled Sun in a victory press conference, saying that he has “a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing”.
We are proud of Sun Yang you should not judge him without knowing the truth. You are pathetic #apologizetosunyang pic.twitter.com/OtFFjW0Alw
— Cindy Mindy (@_cindymindy_) August 7, 2016
Chinese fans duly exploded and began flooding every social media post Horton has ever made, with a variety of insults under the #apologizetosunyang hashtag.
Favored tactics include posting dozens of snake emoji, as well as the tried and tested poop symbol.
#apologizetosunyang ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????@_mackhorton We won't forgive u.Please apologize and be responsible about what u said.
— Kevrilor Taysha (@KevrilorTaysha) August 7, 2016
#apologizetosunyang
Chinese people don't care about gold medal！！！ We care that you don't respect Sunyang!!! You r not a winner!!!????????????— Monica (@GreenteaPancake) August 7, 2016
The tactics mirror those used by Taylor Swift haters – which ultimately ended in her being given a special anti-hater tool by Instagram to mass-delete disobliging comments.
However, the 20-year-old Horton has yet to respond to the abuse, which he seems happy to put up with.
Their feud began earlier last week when Horton accused Sun of splashing water in his face during a race.
Discussing the confrontation later he said “I didn’t respond because I don’t have time for drugs cheats.
And after winning gold he termed his triumph a victory “for the good guys”, adding: “I just have a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing.”
These are only some of the 200,000+ comments on Mack Horton's Instagram from angry Chinese. ????is very common #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/BZ1FDPbklB
— Andrew Brown (@AndrewBrownFCN) August 7, 2016
As the controversy mushroomed, even the Chinese Government has got involved.
State-backed media delighted in slurring Australians in general, at the same time as pretending they were untroubled by the loss.
The Global Times newspaper, which has close ties to the Communist Party elite, blasted Australia as “a country at the fringes of civilization”.
It also derided the country as an “offshore prison” in reference to its early status as a British penal colony. Nonetheless, the article insisted that the snub is “not a big deal to us”.
