China\u2019s internet exploded with joy and pride Monday after the country\u2019s swimmers ended the United States\u2019 decades-long reign in the men\u2019s 4×100 meters medley at the Olympics, a spectacular win for a Chinese team that has faced intense scrutiny in the wake of a doping controversy. <\/p>\n
Pan Zhanle, who set the world record in the 100m freestyle last week, powered China from third position into the lead in the final leg of the relay on Sunday, overtaking his American and French rivals in a stunning reversal. <\/p>\n
Pan finished in 45.92 seconds, faster than the 46.40 seconds he swam four days earlier in the 100m final. <\/p>\n
Team USA finished 0.55 seconds behind the Chinese team, failing to take gold in the event for the first time since the US boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics and ending its unbeaten streak stretching back to the men\u2019s medley debut at the 1960 Games. <\/p>\n
This is China\u2019s second gold in swimming at the Paris Olympics, following Pan\u2019s record-setting win last Wednesday. But outside China, their success has been met with scrutiny \u2013 including from some of their peers in the world of elite swimming. <\/p>\n
The Chinese swim team has come under immense pressure following revelations that nearly half the group Beijing sent to the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 had months earlier tested positive for a banned performance enhancing substance. <\/p>\n
The swimmers had been cleared by China\u2019s Anti-Doping Agency shortly before the Tokyo Games, after it ruled that the positive tests for a banned heart medication were the result of contamination, likely from a hotel restaurant. The global sports doping watchdog World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted the assessment without an appeal. <\/p>\n
The accusations, first reported by the New York Times and German public broadcaster ARD in April, have sparked backlash in the swimming world, where doping can result in years-long bans for athletes who violate the rules. <\/p>\n
Concern only deepened last week, after WADA acknowledged a separate 2022 case in which two Chinese swimmers tested positive for trace amounts of a banned anabolic steroid. They were provisionally suspended but later cleared of a violation by Chinese officials \u2013 again citing contamination linked to food, WADA said. <\/p>\n
In China, many social media users saw the Chinese swim team\u2019s historic win in the relay as a resounding vindication. <\/p>\n
The victory dominated discussions on Chinese social media on Monday, creating several top trending topics on microblogging site Weibo. The hashtag \u201cPan Zhanle\u2019s stunning reversal\u201d racked up more than 500 million views, as did another hashtag about the relay gold medal. <\/p>\n
Pan, who turned 20 on Sunday, called the team gold medal his birthday present. <\/p>\n
\u201cI fulfilled the promise I made a year ago by celebrating my 20th birthday with a team gold medal,\u201d he wrote in a viral post on Weibo, where the swimmer became an overnight celebrity with 1.6 million followers. <\/p>\n
\u201cA new journey has begun, and the goals have been quietly set. I hope I can make an even greater contribution to the team. The Chinese swim team is always the best!\u201d <\/p>\n
Pan also won fans for his confidence and candidness. <\/p>\n
In a pool-side interview with state broadcaster CCTV right after the event, some of Pan\u2019s teammates said they were not happy with their own performance in the earlier legs of the relay. Pan cheered and praised his teammates: \u201cThe race is over, and the championship is ours. It shouldn\u2019t be us who are dissatisfied; it should be the others.\u201d <\/p>\n
In China, where the swim team has long been a source of Olympic glory, the doping allegations have brought outrage and accusations of unfair treatment \u2013 especially over the scrutiny the team has faced this summer. <\/p>\n
Nearly a dozen Chinese swimmers who tested positive three years ago are competing in the Paris Olympics, including two of the quartet that won relay gold on Sunday. <\/p>\n
Double gold-medalist Pan did not test positive in 2021, but he has also faced questions over his stellar performance in Paris. <\/p>\n
After Pan smashed the world record in the 100m freestyle last week, Brett Hawke, a former Australian Olympic swimmer and coach, posted on Instagram that \u201cit\u2019s not humanly possible to beat that field\u201d and that the swim was \u201cnot real life. Not in that pool, against that field.\u201d <\/p>\n
Back in China, state media and internet users have rallied to Pan\u2019s defense. On Monday, many Chinese social media users applauded Pan for defying the pressure and proving his accusers wrong. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf breaking the record the first time didn\u2019t convince the foreigners, this stunning reversal surely did. (Pan\u2019s) so impressive and dominant!\u201d said a comment with 2,300 upvotes. <\/p>\n
\u201cOur strength speaks for itself. We won the gold fair and square,\u201d said another. <\/p>\n
But overseas, doubts linger. <\/p>\n
After Sunday\u2019s relay, British triple Olympic gold medalist Adam Peaty called for stricter doping testing after the British team finished fourth in the race. <\/p>\n
\u201cI think we\u2019ve got to have faith in the system, but we also don\u2019t,\u201d he said, according to Reuters. \u201cI think it\u2019s just got to be stricter.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my favorite quotes I\u2019ve seen lately is there\u2019s no point in winning if you don\u2019t win it fair,\u201d Peaty said. \u201cAnd I think you know that truth in your heart. Even if you touch and you know you\u2019re cheating, you don\u2019t win it, right. <\/p>\n
\u201cSo, for me, if you\u2019ve been on that and you have been contaminated twice, I think as an honorable person, you should be out of the sport.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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