China demands apology for Australian swimming 'drug cheat' slur

Mack Horton shows off his Olympic gold medal after winning the men's 400m freestyle

Chinese swimming officials have demanded an apology after Australian Olympic gold medallist Mack Horton called defending champion Sun Yang a "drug cheat".

Tension between the swimming rivals had been simmering in the lead up to the men's 400m freestyle final in Rio. Horton said earlier this week he had no "time or respect for drug cheats".

Australia's Mack Horton and China's Sun Yang during the men's 400m individual medley final

Sun served a three-month suspension in 2014 for testing positive for a banned substance but was cleared to compete. His fans have also been posting a wave of abusive comments to Horton's social media accounts.

Italy's Gabriele Detti, Australia's Mack Horton and China's Yang Sun take a stand on the podium

'Good luck to him'

Horton made a stunning Olympic debut in the 400m freestyle on Saturday, narrowly edging out Sun to win the race in a personal best time of three minutes, 41.55 seconds. Before the race, Horton had accused Yang of deliberately splashing him in a training session, saying: "I ignored him, I don't have time or respect for drug cheats."

In an interview after his win he defended his comments, saying: "I used the words drug cheat because he tested positive. "I just have a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing."

The Australian Olympic Committee said Horton was "entitled to express a point of view", adding: "He has spoken out in support of clean athletes. This is something he feels strongly about and good luck to him."

But China's swimming team manager Xu Qi said it had been "a malicious personal attack". "We think his inappropriate words greatly hurt the feelings between Chinese and Australian swimmers," he said, in comments carried by China's Xinhua news agency.