Yulia Efimova, the main rival to Indiana University’s Lilly King in the 100-meter breaststroke, has had eligibility reinstated for the Olympics. NBC cameras caught King in the warmup area wagging her finger at the monitor where Efimova was raising her finger in the air in a “No. 1” gesture. So then I got done and I beat her time so I waved my finger again.
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“Ya know, you’re shaking your finger “Number One” and you’ve been caught for drug cheating, I’m just not a fan”.
It’s not just King who doesn’t like the Russian swimmer; the entire crowd booed Efimova as she competed. King swam 1:05.70 to claim the top seed position for the final, then unloaded on Efimova during a post-race interview.
“I guess the whole point behind competition is we swimmers around the world, we train the hardest every day to be able to perform well and represent our countries and we train fair”. “These are not the values of our sport”. It’s just a matter of time.
This feud is down to Russia’s state-sponsored doping scandal, with Efimova having been previously banned for 16 months after testing positive for anabolic steroids.
Though initially ruled out of competing in Rio, the Russian was year cleared to compete by FINA, swimming’s world governing body.
King (pictured) bit into Efimova and said: “If that’s what she feels she needs to be able to compete, whatever, that’s her deal”.
Efimova is also expected to swim the 200 breaststroke and presumably the 4×100 medley relay.
Efimova refused to speak to reporters after her semifinal swim. Earlier Sunday, she described the last six months as “crazy” and said she didn’t ‘understand what’s going on’. In the US winter national championships December 4, Efimova edged King, 1:06.17 to 1:06.43.
Fellow American Katie Meili also advanced to the final, in fifth place, with her time of 1:06.52. When she saw it, King waved her finger right back and millions of people around America yelled “daaaaaaaaaamn!” at their televisions.
‘That question [about Efimova] kind of adds some fire to a lot of us. “Lilly’s doing a good job of putting that in her racing”.
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At just 24 years old, Russian Yulia Efimova’s Olympic career has already been plagued with controversy. “It would be a really great moment for the U.S”. Then their medal is taken away and re-awarded to another athlete when the world is no longer watching. ‘That will be heartbreaking for a lot of athletes’.
