Australian champion swimmer Mack Horton insisted Saturday his bitter feud with Sun Yang was never personal and always about ensuring the sport was clean after the Chinese star was banned for eight years.
The Olympic 400m gold medallist famously snubbed his rival for a photo-call and refused to shake his hand after a medal ceremony at last year's world championships in South Korea, reigniting a row from the 2016 Rio Olympics where Horton labelled Sun a "drug cheat".
His actions appeared vindicated when Sun was found guilty by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Friday of refusing to give a doping sample and banned for eight years.
It was a crushing blow for the triple Olympic gold medal winner, who is idolised in China and vowed to appeal, calling the verdict "unfair".
While Horton's stance won widespread support within the swimming community, it provoked a furious reaction in China with his Instagram account trolled, some even posting death threats.
"I think regardless of the outcome it was always going to be a statement to the world and my stance has always been about clean sport, never about nations or individuals," Horton told Channel Seven en route to a pre-Olympic training session on Saturday.
"It goes on," he added when asked if he was relieved at the outcome. "I'm just a guy still chasing the dream... we've got a job to do this morning and we'll just keep going."
"Horton's reputation as an athlete leader in the fight for clean sport will forever be assured."
The Sydney Daily Telegraph took a similar stance, headlining: "Mack Horton's crusade vindicated."