Duncan Scott: ‘If Sun Yang can’t respect our sport, why should I respect him?’

Duncan Scott is a man of action, and of words and deeds. At the world swimming championships in Gwangju yesterday, the Scot fulfilled one of his immediate goals by securing his first-ever individual medal on the global stage with bronze in the 200 metres freestyle.

Britain's bronze medallist Duncan Scott, right, refuses to stand with gold medallist Sun Yang, second left. Picture: AP

Not what the European champion had truly coveted. Nor had the 22-year-old imagined that some of the shine would be removed by sharing the podium with controversial Chinese rival Sun Yang who was elevated to the top step when Lithuania’s Danas Rapsyn, the original victor, was disqualified for a false start.

The bright side is that it promoted Scott into equal third, accorded the same time of 1:45.63 as Russia’s Martin Milutin, with Japan’s Katsuhiro Matsumoto taking silver and Sun successfully defending his title in 1:44.93. Yet the result stuck visibly in his craw.

The Olympic champion served a three-month doping suspension for testing positive for a banned stimulant in 2014 and remains under a cloud following allegations that his team smashed blood vials taken at an out-of-competition test last year which might yet result in a lifetime ban.

Following the lead of Australia’s Mack Horton earlier this week, who refused to shake hands or pose for the customary podium photo with the Asian No 1 following his victory in the 400m free, Scott delivered a near-identical snub which earned him an angry fist from the victor, cheers from the South Korean crowd, and then a pointed taunt as the pair left the 
podium. “I’m a winner, you’re a loser,” said Sun. As with Horton, the silent but evocative protest saw the man from Alloa receive an official warning from FINA who also rebuked his foe.

“If he can’t respect our sport then why should I respect him?,” said Scott.

“I think a lot of people, everyone in swimming, got behind what Mack did. Hopefully this will happen in more events.”

It diverted attention away from another significant point on Scott’s upwardly-mobile trajectory with high hopes he might enlarge his medal haul over the next 48 hours in the 100m freestyle and the 200m individual medley. He is somewhat of a perfectionist. Bronze is not what his diligent efforts at Stirling University were designed to deliver. This felt underwhelming.

“Because I know there’s way more in there and I’ve not delivered it,” he admitted. “That was the biggest thing. I was just disappointed I wasn’t able to produce anything faster and that stayed there for a while.”

Adam Peaty qualified fastest for today’s men’s 50m breaststroke final while Jessica Macaulay landed bronze for Britain in the women’s high diving.

Meanwhile, Ross Murdoch believes he can close the gap on James Wilby and give his fellow Briton a challenge in the 200m breaststroke.

The former European champion, who begins his championships in tonight’s heats, has been restricted to a single event for the first time since his days as a junior with Wilby poaching the Scot’s customary berth in the 100m.

And he did it to good effect, surging to silver over the 
shorter distance behind the omnipotent Peaty earlier this week. However, even at the relatively advanced age of 25, Murdoch is not 
giving up his chase for domestic 
supremacy, nor for medals.

“James is crushing it and all power to him but it brings challenges for me,” he said.

“But it also encourages me to look for more in training. I’ve never lacked focus but it makes you think harder each day. We’ve looked at underwater shots and we’ve changed technique to find a little extra. And I’m looking forward to seeing if I can find a new gear.”