Tokyo 2020: Olympic 400m champ Mack Horton misses out on chance to defend his title

Horton is narrowly beaten into thrid place at qualifier with Winnington and McLoughlin making the grade

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Mack Horton reacts after failing to qualify in the 400m freestyle final during day one of the Australian Olympic swimming trials in Adelaide. Photo: AFP

Published: 11:26am, 13 Jun 2021

Olympic 400 metre champion Mack Horton will not be defending his title at the Tokyo 2020 Games after failing to qualify at the Australian trials on Saturday, stunned by Elijah Winnington who swam the world’s fastest time this year.

Horton, who beat drug-tainted Chinese star Sun Yang for the title in Rio then refused to stand on the podium with him at the 2019 world championships, has been struggling for form this season.

The 25-year-old needed to come good on day one of the trials in Adelaide and he gave it his all, but his three minutes, 43.92 seconds wasn’t enough despite being one of the quickest globally in the last 12 months.

He was narrowly in front at 300 metres but Winnington came storming back to win in a sizzling 3:42.65 with Jack McLoughlin (3:43.27) pipping Horton for second with only the top two making the grade.

Mack Horton keeps his distance to winner Yang Sun while they pose after the 400m freestyle final at the Gwangju World Championships. Photo: EPA

“It’s really incredible,” said 21-year-old Winnington. “I’ve changed coaches in the past year and it’s been incredible for me. We’ve done so much work and that’s why I had full confidence in my last 100.”