Australian Olympic champion Mack Horton has announced his retirement from swimming, six months out from the 2024 Paris Games.
Horton, 27, has been one of the country's most dominant swimmers over the last decade, excelling in middle distances such as the 400 metres, 800 metres, and 1500 metres freestyle.
A prolific athlete, Horton's accolades include an Olympic Gold medal in the 400m at the 2016 Olympics, a Commonwealth Games Gold in the same event in 2018, as well as numerous Silver and Bronze medals at Olympic, World Championship and Commonwealth Games level.
In a statement released by Swimming Australia, Horton acknowledged that he had lost some of his passion for the sport, and that it was time for something new.
“I dearly wanted to swim in Paris but the hunger wasn’t there. I always want to give my all and I am not someone who just wants to make up the numbers, so this is the right time to step away,” Horton said.
“I have felt so privileged to represent Australia and wear the green and gold … I just hope Australia thinks I did them proud.
“I am so grateful for my time in swimming and in regard to legacy, I hope my teammates and the sport think that I was able to help them and the sport in some way.
“I don’t have any regrets … only that the years went so quickly... swimming has been my life … and it’s the friends and relationships I’ve made that trump any gold medal.
“There are many people to thank … my parents firstly, 5am training sessions are brutal for the whole family, my coaches Craig Jackson and Michael Bohl, Ella, my friends who have supported me along the way – and my Dolphins’ teammates.”
Mack Horton Sun Yang feud
As well as his numerous successes in the pool, Horton will be remembered for his stoush with Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, the swimmer linked to doping offences and who was eventually handed an eight-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020.
The year before this, Horton refused to shake Sun's hand or stand on a podium alongside him after winning silver behind the Chinese swimmer, due to Sun smashing vials of his own blood during a doping test in 2018.
