Chinese Olympic champion Zhang Yufei has appealed to people to “look at the Chinese swimming team through an unbiased lens in response to the unfair treatment and criticism that Chinese swimmers are facing”, reports China’s Global Times.
Zhang, who was one of 23 Chinese athletes who tested positive for a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics, said on Saturday (July 27) that she and her teammates had been wrongly accused of doping and insisted that China would never allow any athlete to use performance-enhancing drugs, reports the New York Times.
China claims the athletes inadvertently ate contaminated hotel food, a claim reiterated by Zhang.
“I don’t think any athlete, Chinese or non-Chinese, would want to destroy the work they built up every day over the years on doping,” Zhang said in Paris on Saturday (July 27) in the first public comments by a member of the Chinese swimming team at the centre of the doping scandal, reported the Times.
Zhang wins two medals
Zhang, who won gold in the 200-metre butterfly at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, claimed two medals in Paris on Saturday. She picked up bronze in the 100-metre butterfly—an event in which she won silver in Tokyo—and helped China finish third in the 4×100-metre women’s freestyle relay.
Zhang, Yang Junxuan, Cheng Yujie and Wu Qingfeng clocked a time of 3 minutes 30.30 seconds in the 4×100-metre, setting a new Asian record.
Australia, nevertheless, won the women’s relay, keeping the crown they won in Tokyo, the team made up of Emma McKeon, Mollie O’Callaghan, Meg Harris and Shayna Jack.
The United States came second, with Simone Manuel, Gretchen Walsh, Torri Huske and Kate Douglass making up the team.
Chinese men finish fourth
The Chinese women fared better than the men who, after a strong start, finished fourth in the 4×100-metre freestyle relay. The United States won gold, with Jack Alexy, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong and Caeleb Dressel on the team. Australia took silver and Italy bronze.
Pan Zhanle gave China a head start, chalking up 46.92 seconds in his leadoff split in the men’s relay, breaking the Olympic record for the men’s 100-metre freestyle. But the United States rallied and won the race in 3:09.28, retaining the crown they had won in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and defended in Tokyo.
“My performance was not good enough. If I had created a greater advantage, we could have reached the podium,” said Pan, the world record holder in the 100-metre freestyle.
China’s Zhang Yufei said on Sunday that she was satisfied with her bronze medal in the women’s 100m butterfly at the Paris Olympics, her second podium finish in the event. #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/IDZAFQ2UYM
— China News 中国新闻网 (@Echinanews) July 29, 2024
Zhang weeps
Zhang, meanwhile, faced the Americans Torri Husk and Grethen Walsh also in the 200-metre butterfly. Huske won the race, and Walsh finished second, pushing Zhang to third place.
Seen weeping after the award ceremony, Zhang said, “Perhaps I’ve pushed myself too hard.” She added, “I did feel a lot of pressure, but I also believe in my own abilities and look forward to competing against strong opponents next time.”
Her hometown fans consoled her. The hashtag “#YufeiDon’tCry” surged to the top of Weibo’s trending list. “Don’t cry, Yufei! We’re so proud of you. You’re really, really good,” one Weibo user commented.
China concern over large number of drug tests
China is worked up over the intensive drug testing of Chinese athletes following doping allegations.
Zhang told the Xinhua News Agency that in the two months before the Paris Olympics, every athlete on the Chinese swimming team was tested 20 to 30 times, averaging three to four tests per person per week.
Some suspect the tests are affecting the athletes.
“Something must have gone awry with the athletes’ pre-competition training. Personally, I believe that seven doping tests in one day might have disrupted our Chinese swimming team,” highly decorated Olympic diver Gao Min wrote on Weibo.
Zhang appeals for understanding
Zhang appealed for understanding in an Olympic poolside interview after advancing to the semi-finals of the 100-metre butterfly.
“Before last year, and before the scandal broke out, I got along really well with competitors from other countries. Now at this Olympics, I’m really worried that my good friends will look at me differently, that they would be unwilling to compete with me or watch me compete,” she said.
“I’m even more worried that the French public would think that Chinese athletes do not deserve to compete at this stage, so I feel very misunderstood.”