Lilly King took a stand against doping in public comments to the media then slammed the point home by winning gold in Rio. King slammed Efimova on Sunday for being caught “drug cheating” and stated that she was “not a fan” of the Russian swimmer, reports Sputnik.
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Fast-forward to Monday night, and King and Yefimova were lined up next to each other in the 100m breaststroke final with a medal on the line.
This comes on the heels of King calling out Efimova for her involvement in that nation’s now infamous doping scandal. Then she swam over to hug teammate Katie Meili, who won bronze.
On the handshake sub, she said, “If I was in Yulia’s position I would not want to be congratulated by someone who was criticising me”.
King and Meili, who finished third to earn the bronze medal, threw their arms around each other in the pool and again at the medal presentation.
With Efimova booed every time she stepped onto the pool deck, the pressure had been on the American to beat the Russian world champion, though the 19-year-old said she felt that any Olympic final was full of tension.
So when Lilly told me that she would “for sure” win a medal in Rio, I believed her.
King is the first Hoosier woman to medal in an individual Olympic swimming event in program history and the first IU woman to medal in a swimming event since Margaux Farrell in 2012, who won bronze on France’s 4x200m freestyle team.
“So if she was wishing to be congratulated, I apologize”. And if NBC made an effort to get Efimova’s side of the story after her silver medal-winning race, it wasn’t apparent to viewers.
Lilly King has taken another forceful swipe at people who dope in sport, calling out Yulia Efinmova, Justin Gatlin and anyone who cheats in competitions. She also achieved an Olympic record with her time of 1:04.93! The second time it was not my mistake.
King has become a cult figure in the US, where her battle with Efimova was portrayed as the latest in a line of US-Russia “grudge matches”. King and United States of America teammate Katie Meli did share a podium, and pictures, with Efimova but both steered clear as soon as the official ceremony concluded.
“I’m happy to be here, it’s very hard”, she said.
“I don’t know why I have to explain to everybody”, Efimova said, fighting back tears Monday night.
Efimova has been suspended multiple times in the past for drug-related offenses and is participating in Rio despite testing positive for a banned substance (meldonium) earlier this year.
At the weekend, Sun was involved in a spat with Australian swimmer Mack Horton – who was angry that his rival was competing despite serving a doping ban in secret in 2014, news of which was only announced in China retrospectively.
“No, do I think people who have been caught doping should be on the team? I’m a gold medalist and it’s what I’ve always wanted to be and it’s an incredible feeling”, said King, who became only the third American victor in the event after Megan Quann in 2000 and Cathy Carr in 1972.
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Finally, American Ryan Murphy set a new Olympic record to win gold in the men’s 100m backstroke.
