Russian Olympic swimmer Yulia Efimova lashed out against her competitors Tuesday after she was booed on the podium while accepting the silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, accusing athletes who criticized her for doping of “using sport” to ignite a new Cold War.
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US athlete Lily King has earned the gold medal in the 100-meter-breaststroke event in the 2016 Rio Olympics, defeating her biggest rival, Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova.
“I can’t say that I’m happy, it’s just good that I was able to compete”, she said.
The 19-year-old King had called out Yulia Efimova after the Russian had finished first in her semifinal heat and had wagged a No. 1 finger in the air.
Salnikov said the American was entitled to her opinion, but noted that Efimova had been cleared to compete last week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest appeal tribunal, and was therefore fully entitled to take part.
“It just proves that you can compete clean and still come out on top”, King said.
King, referring to the storm of controversy over her comments, said: “It’s been a little overwhelming to be honest, but you know I’m still just trying to get off my phone a little bit and focus on my race and see what happens after that”.
King was joined by United States legend Michael Phelps and other swimmers in calling for tougher action on the use of banned substances.
When she saw her time, King pumped her fist into her own lane; then, a few seconds later, she thrashed her arm into Efimova’s lane, splashing water everywhere, before crossing over to her right to embrace teammate and bronze medalist Katie Meili.
“I have also received a lot of support”, Efimova said.
When asked about how to distinguish between freedom of speech and trash talk, International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said on Monday, “We support freedom of speech but on the other hand, at the Olympics it’s also about respecting your rivals”. When it was all over, she ignored Efimova in favor of a splashy celebration.
Not only did King beat Efimova, she also took home a gold medal and notched an Olympic record time to boot. “But that was all I could do right now”.
Efimova tested positive for steroids in 2013 and was subsequently banned for 16 months.
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“Doping is a very serious issue in all of sport, and people justifiably have very strongly held opinions on it”. I didn’t understand what was going on. Add Russia and the IOC’s ruling to deny any athlete who has previously doped into the Olympics into the equation, and the plot thickens.
