China breaks US men’s streak in Olympic medley relay

China won the gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay on Sunday, breaking the United States’ all-time record at the Olympics and capping a swimming program in which Chinese swimmers faced questions about a doping scandal at the Olympics three years ago.

Pan Zhanle swam the final leg, the 100-meter freestyle, in 45.92 seconds on his 20th birthday, lifting China from third to first and helping it claim its 12th medal (second gold) in swimming at this Olympics. Pan won the other gold by setting a world record in the 100-meter freestyle on Wednesday.

The US, which won silver, was 15 of 15 in the event since its debut in 1960, winning every year except 1980, when it boycotted. France won bronze ahead of Great Britain.

China won 12 swimming medals in Paris, double the number in Tokyo, but finished with one gold less. But the successes were scrutinized — and so were the rules of the sport.

The background: On April 20, reporting by The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD revealed that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance seven months before the 2021 Tokyo Olympics — and were never punished. The banned substance was trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart medication that can enhance performance by increasing blood flow to the heart.

Some of the athletes who tested positive went on to win medals in Tokyo. The swimmers were cleared to compete in the Olympics after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted China’s findings suggesting the Chinese swimmers had unknowingly ingested the substance through food they ate at a hotel.

American star Katie Ledecky and other American swimmers voiced support for strict anti-doping policies in the days leading up to the Games. “I hope everyone here (in Paris) comes clean to compete this week,” Ledecky said July 24. “But what really matters is, did they train clean? Hopefully they did. Hopefully there was testing all over the world. I think everyone heard what the athletes were saying. They want transparency. They want more answers to the questions that are still out there.”

On Sunday, British swimmer Adam Peaty, who was part of the relay team that finished fourth, again expressed his scepticism about the system.

“I think we have confidence in the system, but we don’t,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Whoever is in the race, I expect in my head that it has to be fair that they are there. We did our best as a team to do that, and it could have been worth (bronze). Who knows?”

The Chinese swimmers were not shielded from the questions. Pan, the two-time gold medalist, was not among the 23 swimmers who tested positive for Tokyo. But he said he was tested 21 times from May through July, The New York Times reported.

“The test was basically done according to all the rules, so I don’t think there was any difference or influence,” he said after his gold in the 100m freestyle.

Pan also said that he experienced tensions from his colleagues, although all issues were reportedly resolved. Pan Reportedly told a Chinese broadcaster that Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers ignored him after the 4×100-meter freestyle relay on July 27, but Chalmers, who finished second in the 100-meter freestyle, told reporters there was no malice intended and that they exchanged messages.

“I was going to the World Cup series and the first race is in Shanghai. He’s looking forward to having me there and wanted to show me around, so that makes me a lot more excited to go,” Chalmers said, according to The guard.

Zhang Yufei, one of the swimmers who tested positive on TMZ before Tokyo and won silver and five bronze medals in Paris, said at the start of the Games that she hoped her competitors would believe she was clean.

“I don’t think there is a single athlete, Chinese or foreign, who would test positive for doping,” she said, according to the AP“They don’t want to undo all the hard work they’ve put into fighting doping over the years.”

What happens next is unclear. After The New York Times reported Tuesday that two Chinese swimmers were cleared of doping charges in 2022 over contaminated food, WADA said Concerns have been raised about the number of businesses closing due to food contamination, not only in China but in several countries.

WADA said it had launched an investigation in early 2024 into the “circumstances, extent and risks of meat contamination with metandienone” in China and other countries. That investigation is ongoing, it said.

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(Photo: Adam Pretty/Getty Images)