Melbourne-born swimmer Mack Horton, who won a gold medal at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, has announced his retirement from competitive swimming just six months before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. 

The 27-year-old swimmer said he no longer had the motivation to continue in the sport. The two-time Olympic medallist had competed at both Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 Games. He won a gold medal in the 400m freestyle in his debut Olympic Games, while he also won a bronze medal in the 4x200m freestyle relay in Japan capped an illustrious career. 

In addition to his Olympic success, Horton's career included multiple medals at the World Championships, the Pan Pacific Championships, and the Commonwealth Games.

A strong advocate of clean sport, Horton commented: "I wanted to compete in Paris, but the motivation was not there anymore. I always want to give my best, and I'm not someone who just wants to be part of the group, so this is the right time to retire." 

"It's been a privilege to represent Australia and wear the green and gold... I just hope that Australia feels that I have made them proud," Horton said in a statement from Swimming Australia. 

Beyond his achievements, Horton will also be remembered for his stance at the 2019 World Championships, where he won a silver medal in the 400m freestyle behind China's Sun Yang and refused to shake the gold medalist's hand or stand on the podium. Sun Yang was later banned for eight years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for tampering with doping controls.

Despite his retirement, the man who was the world's fastest in the 200m breaststroker in 2022 (2:05.95) will remain connected to the sport in a another capacity. Horton is the new president of Swimming Australia and will move from the Gold Coast to Melbourne in the coming months. 

Rohan Taylor, head coach of the Australian team, praised Horton as a sporting leader: "Mack is a person of great influence with constructive insight and he is just a person of quality.