COMMONWEALTH GAMES: HORTON VOWS TO KEEP CALLING OUT CHEATS

MACK Horton says he would have no hesitation in calling out cheats again if athletes were found to have brought drugs into the Games village.

Olympic champion Horton famously called out China’s Sun Yang ahead of their 400m clash at the Rio Olympics, saying he had no “time or respect for drug cheats”.

While he hoped the Gold Coast Games would be clean, Horton said he would not tone down his comments if any athlete was caught cheating.

The Aussie swimmer’s comments came as urgent lab tests were being conducted on syringes found in the athletes’ village.

The revelations stunned the Australian swim team at their media conference yesterday, with Horton saying the news had not penetrated the “bubble” the athletes had existed in since their arrival from a Brisbane training camp on Saturday.

“That’s the first I’ve heard about it. We are in a bit of a bubble in the village and don’t really hear what’s going on, on the outside,” Horton said.

“But I hope it is a clean Games.”

Horton beat Sun in the 400m in Rio but his comments was pilloried constantly by thousands of Chinese fans on social media, who backed Sun despite the Olympic champion having served a secret threemonth suspension in 2014 after testing positive to a banned medication.

Despite the reaction, which continues to this day on his social media channels, Horton said he would not tone down his comments against drug cheats.

“Not at all. I don’t think I’d change a thing. I guess I’m proud of how I handled myself in Rio,” he said.

Australian swimming head coach Jacco Verhaeren said the team had not heard about the syringe scandal.