In one of the biggest grudge matches in the ongoing 2016 Rio Olympics, American swimmer Lily King managed to beat her biggest rival, Russia’s Yulia Efimova, earning a gold medal in the 100-meter-breaststroke event on Monday.
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King and Efimova were pitted against each other in adjacent lanes.
Efimova tested positive for steroids in 2013 and was subsequently banned for 16 months.
Efimova, who was the reigning world champion, had been initially barred from the Olympics due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
King apparently could not stop there, and later added: “If that’s what she feels she needs to be able to compete, whatever, that’s her deal. USATF follows and supports this concept, which is consistent with the policies of other sports and with the US legal system”. King did not shake Efimova’s hand and wagged her finger at Efimova, calling her a “drug cheat”. The Russian was loudly booed by the Rio crowd.
Efimova after her semifinal also waved one finger – which King interpreted as a taunt.
The dispute between King and Efimova went beyond the pool when officials from Australia and China got involved.
A wagging finger. A stunning swim. The US victor was backed up by her teammate, swimming legend Michael Phelps. Australia’s Olympic Committee shot back in Horton’s defense hours later, saying he was speaking his mind in support of clean athletes and wished him luck.
Sun has previously said he did not know the medication trimetazidine, which he took for chronic heart palpitations, had been placed on the banned list when he tested positive. Some Chinese spectators also jeered Australian swimmers.
Athletes with past doping convictions should not be on Team USA, Olympic breaststroke champion Lilly King said on Monday in response to a question about the inclusion of sprinter Justin Gatlin.
They both look awesome on their TV appearances! “She had a fantastic swim”, King said at a press conference afterward where Efimova tried to defend herself against the doping charges. “Standing up for what I believe is right, I felt like I had to perform even better tonight than I have in the past”, she said.
When pressed about criticism from rival swimmers and coaches, she smiled and walked away.
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She had been banned from competing in the Rio Games because of her doping history, as well as her country’s vast state-sponsored doping program, but, after winning an appeal, she was quietly put back on the roster just days before the race, Tracy says. “When something like that happens, it’s never nice”.
