- Kyle Chalmers responded to Pan Zhanle
- The Olympic gold medalist claimed he was overlooked by Chalmers
- But Chalmers says the claim is “strange”
Kyle Chalmers calls it “strange” that he is being accused of ignoring Chinese freestyle gold medalist Pan Zhanle at the Paris Olympics.
The Australian took silver behind Pan, who broke his own world record in the men’s 100m freestyle final on Wednesday evening.
The Chinese swimmer then claimed that Chalmers disrespected him.
“When we finished the 4x100m freestyle relay on the first day, I greeted Chalmers but he completely ignored me,” Pan told Chinese media.
‘That included (Jack) Alexy from the American team. When we were training, our coach was on the deck and someone did a somersault and threw water directly on the coach.
This behavior seemed quite disrespectful to us.
‘But we beat them all and broke the world record in such a difficult group.’
Chalmers was astonished by Pan’s remarks.
Kyle Chalmers has responded to Pan Zhanle’s ‘weird’ comments after his Olympic victory
Chalmers finished second to the Chinese star in the men’s 100m freestyle final
“I think it’s a bit weird, I gave him a fist bump before the relay,” Chalmers said Thursday.
‘And then my focus went to my teammates and my own racing.
‘We had a laugh last night during the warm-up, but there were no problems from my side.’
Chalmers has vowed to continue swimming after the Paris Games, dismissing speculation that he will retire after building on his remarkable Olympic record.
“This is not my last individual (event), I’m not retiring anytime soon,” the 26-year-old said after leaving the podium in Paris.
“I love it. I think I’ll keep doing it as long as I can.”
Pan set the first world record in the pool in Paris with a time of 46.40 seconds. That is 0.40 seconds faster than his previous record. Chalmers called this time ‘crazy’.
The Chinese team has come under increasing fire since it was revealed that 23 of the team’s swimmers tested positive for a banned substance just before the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Pan was not among the group of 23 allowed to compete in Tokyo after international anti-doping authorities accepted China’s explanation that the swimmers had eaten contaminated food in a team hotel.
Chalmers was diplomatic about Pan’s performance in Paris.
Zhanle was accused of drug fraud after his impressive victory in Paris
“I’m doing everything I can to win the race and I trust that everyone will do the same as me, and that I will remain true to the integrity of the sport,” he said.
“I trust that… he (Pan) deserves that gold medal.”
Romania’s David Popovici, who won bronze in the 100m freestyle, was equally pragmatic.
“I think we can go even faster, there are people who swim now and can do that,” Popvici said after the race.
‘It’s just a matter of doing everything at the right time and I think it’s definitely possible, and even faster.
‘This is just motivation for us.
“I mean, we can’t be mad, we can only congratulate him. This is what sport is.
‘Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.’
