A war of words erupted between the Australian and Chinese swimming teams at the Paris Olympics after three-time Olympian Kyle Chalmers criticised China’s Pan Zhanle for allegedly ignoring him poolside as “a bit strange”.
Pan broke the world record in the 100m freestyle on Wednesday, winning gold while Chalmers, the 2016 Rio champion, took silver. Pan’s spectacular swim was the first world record set at an event that has been plagued by claims of slow water currents.
In an interview with China Broadcasting Corporation after the race, Pan said Chalmers had ignored the 19-year-old on the first night of competition.
“The other day, after the 4x100m freestyle relay, I said ‘hello’ to Chalmers, but he totally ignored me,” Pan said in a television interview shortly after Wednesday’s race.
Pan also criticized American swimmer Jack Alexie for allegedly being disrespectful to his Chinese coach during training.
“We were training and our coach was standing by the pool and he turned and the water splashed on him. It felt like he was looking down on us.”
Chalmers responded in a statement released through the Australian Olympic Committee on Thursday morning, saying he had nothing but respect for Pan.
“It feels a bit strange. I did a little fist pump before the relay, but after that I was just focused on my teammates and my own race,” said the Tokyo 100m freestyle silver medallist. “We laughed together in the warm-up last night, but there was nothing wrong with me.”
The allegations were made even more extraordinary by comments Chalmers made to reporters after Tuesday’s 100-meter semifinal. Asked about his younger rival, Chalmers, a veteran pool swimmer who won a gold medal eight years ago, cited comments Pan had made to him previously.
“Before the World Championship final last year, [Britain’s] Matt Richards came up to me and said, ‘It’s an honor to race with you. I grew up watching you. You’re one of my idols,'” Chalmers said. “And even Pan, the Chinese guy, just before we exited, said, ‘Oh, you’re my idol. I loved watching you.'”
After newsletter promotion
“That was kind of crazy. Their first Olympic experience was probably my gold medal in Rio,” the Australian added, “so it’s nice to be able to inspire the next generation of 100m freestyle swimmers and match them in a bit.”
The beef in the pool issue emerged shortly after it was revealed that Chinese authorities suspected Australian meat was the cause of positive doping tests. On Tuesday it emerged that two Chinese swimmers tested positive for banned substances in October 2022 but cleared them of any wrongdoing, claiming they had eaten tainted meat.
After the positive tests, Chinese authorities reportedly suspected burgers made with imported meat were the source of the banned substance and began testing Australian beef for contamination.
Contamination of meat products is a well-known issue in anti-doping, but industry body Australian Meat and Livestock said on Wednesday that the banned substance methandienone is “not used in any form in Australian beef production or veterinary medicine”.
After five days of swimming at Paris 2024, Australia leads the swimming medal tally with four gold medals. Pan’s victory on Wednesday night was China’s first gold medal of the Games.
