A Chinese swimmer who won a bronze medal in the butterfly event at the 2024 Paris Olympics has claimed innocence regarding the doping scandal involving her country.
On August 2, China’s Zhang Yufei won the bronze medal in the 200m butterfly final at the La Defense swimming pool in Paris, France, with a record of 2:05.09.
Immediately after the race, Zhang stated, “We are innocent,” and denied the doping allegations against Chinese swimming, saying, “World Aquatics and other parties have already got to the bottom of everything and clarified online.”
Earlier, U.S. and Australian media raised suspicions with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), claiming that 23 Chinese athletes who tested positive for doping at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics still competed. Zhang’s name appeared on the list of athletes under suspicion then.
She emphasized that all athletes, including Chinese athletes, must undergo doping tests and added that the number of tests for all athletes is increasing. This indicates that Chinese athletes are diligently undergoing doping tests.
Regarding Pan Zhanle’s world record time of 46.40 seconds in the 100m freestyle, where he beat second-place Kyle Chalmers (47.48 seconds, Australia) by 1.08 seconds, Zhang commented, “Pan Zhanle had already recorded times under 47 seconds several times before this competition, so this record isn’t unexpected.” She also noted, “Like other Chinese athletes, Pan Zhanle has undergone multiple doping tests since entering the athlete’s village.”
Zhang expressed her frustration, stating, “Why are Chinese athletes questioned when they swim fast, but no one dares to question [Michael] Phelps or [Katie] Ledecky previously?” The 26-year-old added, “I don’t think the doping incident will seriously impact us because we are innocent.”
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