Lilly King celebrates, as Yulia Efimova looks on in Rio. Credit:AP Brazil, in geopolitical terms a gentle giant of a country, is an incongruous place for this tropical cold war. But they had come to Rio as they used to go to Paris or Copenhagen, to sort it all out. It might be a bit old-fashioned to think that matters of honour and principle can be fought for, won and lost by a sporting contest. It's laughable, really. And yet if you don't believe sporting victory has a putative moral worth, imagine if - after all that had transpired - Horton had lost to Yang on Saturday night. Or that Efimova had won on Tuesday night. The common enemy was plain to see. Efimova, a convicted doper, was cleared to swim at these Games only on Saturday and when she arrived the pool deck for the 100 metres breaststroke final on Tuesday night, she was met with boos, jeers, whistles and even a bit of fist-shaking. She swam well enough, but at the wall was squeezed between two Americans. Then came the coded messages, the double talk and the cold shoulders - and no shoulder is more imposing when turned than a swimmer's. Efimova stared dolefully while the Americans crossed lanes to hug one another. Not at any point was there an acknowledgement, she of them, they of her, nor the other swimmers of her. On the podium, contact was unavoidable, but it was forced and fleeting, and on the ritual victory lap, it was as if she was as the Americans believed she should have been; it was as if she was not there. For Efimova, this was Siberia by the sea. At length, she dragged her feet and the shreds of her dignity to the exit. But the the Americans were not finished. "It was so incredible, winning a gold medal, and I know I did it clean," said the winner, Lilly King, who is not nearly as ingenuous as she looks. Rejoined third-placed Katie Meili: "Swimming is so special that I hope the powers that be are working hard to keep integrity of the sport." You don't have to read too far between those lines. Then Phelps weighed in. "I think it breaks what sport is meant to be and that's what pissed me off," he said.

Russia's Yulia Efimova cries after placing second in the women's 100-meter breaststroke final. Credit:AP When they went to press, the Americans dispensed with diplomatic niceties altogether, King saying not only that Efimova should not have been there, but that countryman Justin Gatlin, a twice-convicted 100-metres runner, should be sent home. "I do think it is a victory for clean sport, just to show that you can do it," King said. If she and Efimova had sat further apart, they would have had to communicate through envoys. Efimova tried to keep a brave face, but bit by bit, it crumbled. It will be a long time before it is safe for her to go back into even chlorinated water. So much for the enemy, but who was who's friend? It wasn't as simple as it is for Julie Bishop. Alliances shifted, race by race. Australia could never be the US's deputy sherriff here; it had objectives of its own to pursue. Then there were the Chinese, ever whispering. They had their points to make, scores to settle and medals to win. Yang began this whole contretemps with a warm-up pool splashing of Horton on Saturday, butterfly wings fluttering in the Amazon. Rio rage: Olympic champion Sun Yang. Credit:AP He was back this night to swim and win the 200 metres freestyle, a race just long enough for the swimmers to have to pace themselves and just short enough for that to be killing. Yang got it right. Emerging from the pool, he was a man with a weight off his shoulders, bowing to Chinese fans and making muscle man gestures to all others. Perhaps alone on the night, this action stood for what it was.

Bronze medallist Conor Dwyer, from the US, congratulated Yang then and acclaimed him warmly later, saying he would go down as an all-time swimming great, but the other swimmers left him alone, This, though, was more about giving the winner space rather than isolating the pariah. Yang was, well, diplomatic. He brushed aside questions about Horton, saying this was his day to celebrate. Like Efimova, his position is that he has served his suspension. The position of others is that they did a disservice to sport that can never be forgiven or forgotten. When it comes to drugs in sport, the athletes always know. They just do. Hence Phelps' seething. Hence the helpless tumble of words and events since Horton spoke out. Yang went off on another tack, saying this was not about him and Horton, but about the way Asians were now imposing themselves on middle distance races that were once the preserve of Westerners. "We're all swimming for Asia," he said. From a muddled translation, it was unclear whether he was enfolding Australia into this new swimming bloc or cutting it loose. Come to think of it, even Australia can't make up its mind about its place in Asia. Loading One other form of alliance was put to the test this ⁬night. Australians Mitch Larkin and Emily Seebohm are partners as well fellow backstrokers and teammates. In consecutive finals, they faced - to the extent that a backstroker can face - Americans and Chinese. Sadly, neither swam near their best, both receding on the return lap. Larkin was beaten into fourth by two Americans and a Chinese. Seebohm trailed off behind Katinka Hosszu, a Hungarian, refreshingly.

So it was that these backstrokers came away without medals, but at least still with each other to stroke the other's back.