Aussie swimmer mercilessly trolled on social media after gold medal win
Mackenzie "Mack" Horton may have won an Olympic gold medal Saturday, but he did not win the hearts and minds of hundreds of egg accounts on Twitter.
The Australian swimmer beat out arch rival Sun Yang of China in the 400-meter freestyle in Rio de Janeiro. There is no love lost between the two Olympians, who reportedly did their best to rile each other up in the days before the race.
Horton certainly did not hide his feelings. He pointedly ignored Yang in the training pool, telling reporters, "I don't have time for drug cheats." The comment referred to a doping ban Yang served in 2014 after testing positive for a banned stimulant. Horton later admitted to Fairfax Media it was a ploy to get under the skin of his key opponent, who came in second.
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Horton is probably out celebrating his gold medal win, so let's hope he's not looking at his phone. As spotted by a News Corp reporter, insulting Chinese athletes is no good for your Twitter mentions.
It's an absolute garbage fire in there.
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Egg profiles and accounts with a suspiciously low number of followers abound, but here's an unflattering shot of Horton with a snake on his head.
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The snake thing is a theme, for sure.
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#Apologizetosunyang seems to be the key demand.
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Even his roommate is getting it.
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The swimmer's Instagram has not been spared either.
Enjoy you medal, Mack. Perhaps don't check social media for awhile.
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The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Ariel Bogle was an associate editor with Mashable in Australia covering technology. Previously, Ariel was associate editor at Future Tense in Washington DC, an editorial initiative between Slate and New America.
