Mack Horton and Sun Yang 'separated' as ugly feud hits world titles
Controversial Chinese swimming star Sun Yang has reportedly gone out of his way to keep his distance from Australian rival Mack Horton ahead of the world titles in South Korea.
After a very public feud at the Rio Olympics, tensions looked set to bubble over again when Sun and Horton were reportedly assigned lanes next to each other at the warm-up pool at Gwangju on Thursday night.
However, Sun asked to be moved to another lane when he discovered who was training beside him, according to the South China Morning Post.
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The report claimed Sun - trained by Australian coach Denis Cotterell - then moved back to his original training lane once Horton left the pool.
Due to a looming hearing Sun is a controversial entry at the eight-day world titles which starts at Gwangju on Sunday.
Three-time Olympic champion Sun - who served a secret three month doping ban in 2014 - faces a lifetime suspension over claims a vial of his blood was smashed by a hammer during a clash with testers last year.
He is set to face the Court of Arbitration for Sport tribunal in September although an official date is yet to be finalised.
Horton and Sun clashed in Rio
In the meantime Sun appears determined to avoid a repeat of his Rio drama where the Chinese star riled Horton at training, escalating a bitter rivalry.
Horton later sensationally dismissed Sun as a "drug cheat" before upsetting him to claim 400m Olympic gold.
The stage is set for more fireworks at Gwangju after Sun was cleared to contest the world titles, starting with a 400m freestyle showdown with Horton on Sunday.
High profile swimmers including Australia's Cate Campbell have already voiced their disapproval of world body FINA's decision not to reprimand Sun over his latest controversy.
Reports claimed Sun objected to an out-of-competition test at his Zhejiang home last September before the vial was allegedly destroyed.
FINA opted not to punish Sun amid claims the testers had not shown adequate identification but World Anti-Doping Agency lodged an appeal.
Sun will still compete at the world titles with his Court of Arbitration for Sport tribunal date yet to be set.
Besides the 400m, Sun will also line up against Australia's Kyle Chalmers in the 200m freestyle and contest the 800m which features Dolphins distance star Jack McLoughlin.
