Team China’s Pan Zhanle, who won the 100m freestyle, breaking his own world record by 0.4 of a second, on Wednesday (July 31), launched 2024 Paris Olympic Games viewers into a frenzy over cheating accusations. Even fellow athletes slammed the result. The 19-year-old Chinese athlete reportedly “demolished” Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers, whom he finished a whole second ahead of.
Highlights
- Pan Zhanle broke his own world record in 100m freestyle by 0.4 seconds, causing cheating accusations.
- Brett Hawke, a former competitive swimmer, criticized Pan's win, questioning its legitimacy.
- Chinese officials cleared swimmers Tang Muhan and He Junyi of doping after they tested positive in 2022.
- Pan has been tested over 20 times recently and denied any doping involvement.
The incredible effort, which saw him finish the race in 46.40 seconds, meant a first-ever medal for China in the 100m freestyle, The Daily Mail reported on Thursday (August 1).
A former competitive swimmer who represented Australia in previous Olympic Games, Brett Hawke, took to his Instagram page just after the race, stating: “Listen, I'm just going to be honest, I am angry at that swim.”
“Look I'm angry for a number of reasons. Look my friends are the fastest swimmers in history from Rowdy Gaines to Alex Popov to Gary Hall Jr, Anthony Irvin, and all the way up to King Kyle Chalmers.
Team China’s Pan Zhanle won the 100m freestyle, breaking his own world record by 0.4 of a second, on Wednesday (July 31)
Image credits: Pan Zhanle/Weibo
“I know these people intimately, I've studied them for 30 years. I've studied this sport. I've studied speed. I understand it. I'm an expert in it, that's what I do okay.
“I'm upset right now because you don't win 100 freestyle by a body length on that field. You just don't do it.
“It is not humanly possible to beat that field by a body length. I don't care what you say.
“This is not a race thing, this is not against any one particular person or nation, this is just what I see and what I know.
Image credits: Eurosport
“That's not real, you don't beat that field. Kyle Chalmers, David Popovici, Jack Alexy, you don't beat those guys by one full body length in 100 freestyle.
“That's not humanly possible okay so don't sell it to me, don't shove it down my throat. It's not real.”
The 49-year-old retired athlete posted another message to his Instagram story that read: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
He did not mention doping directly, but China's team has been under increased scrutiny since revelations that 23 swimmers tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, The Daily Mail reported.
Pan's win launched 2024 Paris Olympic Games viewers into a frenzy over cheating accusations
Image credits: Eurosport
Pan was reportedly not in the group of 23 that was allowed to compete in Tokyo after world anti-doping authorities accepted China's explanation the swimmers had eaten contaminated food at a team hotel.
The Asian country was plunged back into the spotlight on Tuesday (July 30) after The New York Times reported that two elite Chinese Swimmers, Tang Muhan and He Junyi, tested positive in 2022 for a banned drug but were secretly cleared of doping late last year by Chinese authorities.
After a lengthy investigation into the previously undisclosed incident, the Chinese authorities were unable to determine exactly how the swimmers ingested the drug, a powerful anabolic steroid, but concluded that they had most likely done so unwittingly when they ate hamburgers at a restaurant in Beijing, The New York Times reported.
Pan slammed dopping claims, stating that he had been tested more than 20 times over the past few months but remained cautious when asked if the accusations had affected him.
Image credits: Ahmed Marzouk
He told reporters, as per The Daily Mail: “The testing was essentially done under all the regulations, so I don't feel there was any difference or influence.”
Australia's silver medallist Kyle Chalmers finished 1.08 seconds behind Pan, while David Popovici finished a further 0.01 seconds behind for the bronze, as per The Mail.
Kyle told reporters: “I do everything I possibly can to win the race and trust everyone's doing the same as I am, staying true to the integrity of sport.
“I trust that ... [Pan] deserves that gold medal.”
The 19-year-old Chinese athlete reportedly “demolished” Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers
Image credits: Guardian Sport
The Aussie athlete, who was the gold medallist at Rio 2016, took his second silver in the event and eighth Olympic medal, having finished as the runner-up behind Caeleb Dressel at the Tokyo Games, The Mail reported.
Romania’s David Popovici, who won the 200m gold, was also sure Pan was clean, telling reporters upon winning his bronze medal: “I think we can go even faster.
“There are people now alive and who are swimming who can do it.
“It’s just a matter of putting it together and doing it at the right moment. And I think it’s very possible, even faster.
Image credits: Guardian Sport
“This is the only motivation for us. I mean, we can’t be mad, we can only congratulate him. This is what sports is.
“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty. That’s all I have to say.”
Nevertheless, Pan later called out the silver medalist and Team USA’s Jack Alexy for unsportsmanlike behavior.
“When I finished the 4×100 freestyle relay the other day, I said, ‘Hi’ to Chalmers, but he totally ignored me,” the Chinese athlete said in a TV interview after the race, as transcribed by Reuters.
Australia's silver medallist Kyle Chalmers finished 1.08 seconds behind Pan
Image credits: CGTN Sports Scene
He added: “Also, Alexy from the US. When we were training, our coach was standing by the poolside and he turned in such a way that the water splashed right onto the coach.
“I felt he looked down on us a little.”
Nevertheless, Kyle offered a different take, saying in a statement released by Swimming Australia through the Australian Olympic team: “I find it a bit weird, I gave him a fist pump before the relays.”
Image credits: CGTN Sports Scene
The 26-year-old Olympian continued: “And then my focus went to my teammates and my own racing.
“We had a laugh together at warm down last night - but no issues from my end.”
After revelations that swimmers Tang Muhan and He Junyi tested positive in 2022 for dopping, Chinese authorities told global antidoping regulators that only trace amounts of a banned steroid had been detected and that those levels were consistent with contamination, not doping, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Pan slammed dopping claims, stating that he had been tested more than 20 times over the past few months
Image credits: panzhanle
The subsequent decision to clear Tang and He was at least the third time in recent years that China blamed contaminated food for positive tests by top swimmers, an explanation that has drawn skepticism from many anti-doping experts, The Times explained.
Investigators and at least one expert for the World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA, were reportedly not convinced of the contamination explanation in the most recent case.
Nevertheless, WADA chose not to appeal China’s decision not to impose bans on the swimmers. Another anti-doping agency, the International Testing Agency (ITA), also reviewed the case.
Image credits: hawkebr
At least one ITA official believed that swimming’s global governing body should appeal the Chinese decision to clear the athletes, an insider told The Times. But the swimming organization, known as World Aquatics, did not do so.
Two anonymous sources told the American newspaper that they decided to disclose the information because they believed that the tests were covered up and that the world should know about them.
China’s anti-doping authority, known as Chinada, did not address the newly disclosed case. However, Chinada told The Times that it “has always maintained a scientific, rigorous and objective attitude, adhered to a firm stance of ‘zero tolerance’ for doping, and has always carried out its anti-doping work in strict accordance” with global rules.
Former competitive swimmer who represented Australia in previous Olympic Games, Brett Hawke, slammed Pan's win
WADA did not dispute the facts of the case when asked for comment by The Times. The agency said it had “reviewed the full case file with considerable skepticism and all due diligence. In the end, there was no evidence to challenge the contamination scenario presented by the athletes and Chinada.”
The agency added: “WADA is generally concerned about the number of cases that have been closed without sanction when it is not possible to challenge the contamination theory.”
ITA reportedly said that its role with World Aquatics did not extend to challenging conclusions by national anti-doping agencies and that it “did not advise World Aquatics to appeal these decisions” by the Chinese anti-doping agency.
Image credits: CGTN Sports Scene
World Aquatics reportedly said it “would not be appropriate to comment” on the case in detail, but it added that “it never received any recommendation from the ITA to appeal the case.”
Use of the drug detected in the 2022 tests — methandienone, an anabolic steroid — carries the harshest penalties, including a four-year ban, as per The Times.
The drug is often referred to as Dianabol or D-Bol and is popular among swimmers and sprinters seeking an edge because of how it helps build lean muscle.
Two elite Chinese Swimmers, Tang Muhan and He Junyi, tested positive in 2022 for a banned drug
Image credits: Eurosport
Tang and He were training in 2022 at a national team facility in Beijing. The Chinese told WADA that the two of them went out together for a day in early October, stopping at a restaurant for Coke, hamburgers, and fries.
Days later, they were subjected to routine drug testing, which came back positive when the results were reported the following month, The Times reported.
After the positive tests in 2022, Chinese authorities initially issued provisional suspensions against the two swimmers as the WADA code requires.
However, China didn’t publicly disclose its findings of food contamination, as required under WADA rules.
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