China Defends Pan Zhanle Amid Controversy Over Record-Breaking Swim

China’s state media, athletes, and netizens have rallied to support Olympic swimming champion Pan Zhanle after critics, including an Australian swim commentator, claimed his world record swim in the 100 metres freestyle was not “humanly possible.”

Pan shattered his own 100 metres freestyle world record, cutting 0.40 seconds off the previous mark set at the World Championships in Doha in February. He outperformed notable rivals like Australia’s Kyle Chalmers and Romania’s David Popovici, finishing in 46.60 seconds to secure China’s first swimming gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games. This victory comes after Pan underwent rigorous doping tests with zero positive results, as reported by the China Daily.

The 19-year-old athlete revealed he had taken 21 doping tests from May to July before the games. “I cooperated with all the testing procedures and stayed confident that I am competing fair and clean,” Pan told the newspaper. He attributed his success to extensive aerobics and endurance training, along with a scientific underwater monitoring and analyzing system to refine techniques and strokes.

Despite these assurances, Australian coach and commentator Brett Hawke took to Instagram to express skepticism, stating, “It’s not humanly possible to beat that field” and that the swim was “not real life. Not in that pool, against that field.” Hawke’s remarks quickly circulated on China’s Weibo platform, eliciting strong reactions from users who defended Pan and mocked the criticism.

The Chinese swim team has faced intense scrutiny since revelations in April that 23 of the country’s swimmers tested positive for a banned heart medication in 2021 but were allowed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics. However, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and an independent review upheld the findings that the results were due to contamination from a hotel kitchen.