Mack Horton dodges question over Shayna Jack doping revelation

Australian swimming star Mack Horton has dodged questions about the doping scandal surrounding teammate Shayna Jack.

Horton won widespread praise for his protest against rival swimmer Sun Yang, after refusing to share the podium with the Chinese star, who could be subject to a life ban from the sport after interfering with a doping test.

News of the doping scandal within the Australian team compromised Horton’s stance.

ABC correspondent Jake Sturmer approached Horton at the FINA World Championships in South Korea on Sunday, asking for the gold medallist’s thought’s on the Jack story.

Horton was tight-lipped, offering a slight grin before hastily making his was onto a team bus.

The ABC reported Horton’s teammate, Mitch Larkin, said the team was “trying to focus on tonight's efforts.”

Swimming Australia left red-faced

Swimming Australia’s response to the Shayna Jack doping scandal has been questioned, with a prominent former doping authority calling them out for not disclosing the positive test.

Jack returned a positive test sample on June 26 - well before the FINA World Championships in South Korea got underway.

The scandal became especially embarrassing in the light of highly-publicised anti-doping protests led by Australian swimmer Mack Horton.

Swimming Australia stand accused of a cover up after failing to make the results public, despite claiming they were legally bound to silence.

Former ASADA CEO, Richard Ings, took to Twitter to rubbish the claim, citing a specific section of their own anti-doping policy.

“If Swimming Australia are suggesting that their anti doping policy, approved by ASADA, forbids them from announcing the Jack provisional suspension, they are wrong,” Ings wrote on Twitter.

Ings also pointed out that both the International Association of Athletes Federations (IAAF) and the International Tennis Federation (ITF) also announce provisional suspensions in similar circumstances.

According to section 14.3.1 of the Swimming Australia Limited Anti-Doping Policy, the organisation is allowed to disclose a positive sample.

In their statement on Saturday night, Swimming Australia said Jack was ruled out of the World Championships immediately after returning the positive sample.

“Once Swimming Australia was made aware of the adverse test result, it immediately took action — in accordance with the national policy — to provisionally suspend Shayna from the Australian swim team while a process was under way and accompanied her back to Australia from a training camp being held in Japan,” the statement read.

“The Swimming Australia policy also means that any Australian athlete under provisional suspension, while ASADA investigations are under way, cannot take part in any competition, meaning Shayna was unable to travel to Gwangju to compete at the 2019 World Championships.”