Efimova was in tears after King beat her on Monday in the 100 meters breaststroke and declined to congratulate her after the race.
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Efimova, showing the strain of months of uncertainty over whether she would make it to Rio, was distraught after losing to the American on Monday, when she was resoundingly booed by the crowd.
King slapped the water and swam to her teammate Catherine Meili, to celebrate her third-place finish and bronze medal.
“What would she say about Michael Phelps?”. Efimova asked reporters during a “contentious” press conference, according to Yahoo Sports. Efimova asked at a post-race press conference – referring, a Russian spokesperson later clarified, to the US swimming legend’s bumpy past. While the 22-time Olympic gold medalist’s actions were wrong, he didn’t attempt to unfairly get an advantage on the competition.
You’re not supposed to train at a plain old city pool, like Lloyd Pool in Evansville, because state high school rules require you train with your team three months a year. It took someone like her, with apparently no fear, to call out the Russians, and even other Americans, for using performance enhancing drugs.
“You’re shaking your finger No. 1 and you’ve been caught for drug cheating”, King told NBC after winning her own semifinal race. “But I know very many cases in which people do it out of not knowing or out of stupidity or out of naivete”.
“I said it before, and I think I can say it now: There are only two Americans I respect and I can listen”, Efimova continued. When you are driving a vehicle and break a rule, you get only a ticket. “No one puts you in jail, everyone should have a second chance”.
Efimova has two doping offenses on her record.
“I once made a mistake and served my ban”, she said, referring to the 16-month suspension incurred after testing positive for a banned steroid.
Meldonium only became a banned substance in January of this year. However, because the World Anti-Doping Agency was unsure how long the substance can remain in one’s body, it later wiped the suspension away, per Maine.
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The fact that the Russian lashed out shouldn’t come as much of a surprise. She was talking about Jon Urbanchek and Dave Salo, who coached Efimova at the University of Southern California. In doing so she showed more courage in 100 meters than Olympic officials have shown in the last 100 days.
