“She had a fantastic swim”, King said at a press conference afterward where Efimova tried to defend herself against the doping charges. King won her semifinal heat, edging Efimova’s time, 1:05.70 to 1:05.72. “I think something needs to be done”, said Phelps, who now has 19 Golds and a total of 23 medals, both records, after his Gold here this week.
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Efimova also used the old “I unknowingly used PEDs” defense.
Now that the stage has been set – enter Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova.
“Efimova has tested positive five times and she’s gotten away with it again”. And now we have the potential for a GIF so versatile, so applicable to such a broad array of scenarios that it’s worth the International Olympic Committee lifting the ban on Olympic GIFs for the dissemination of this moment alone. “Now, do I think people who have been caught doping should be on the team?”
“Of course I’m not for doping, and I’ve never used it on goal”, Efimova told reporters, according to Yahoo. He won a bronze medal at the 2012 Olympics in London and hasn’t had any issues since.
Most of the athletes shrug it off and move on, ready to focus on the next race, but not Lilly King.
Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova defended her right to compete in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics on Thursday by pointing to the most decorated swimmer of all time, Michael Phelps.
Efimova was asked whether she regrets competing in the Olympics, given the boos that greeted her name in Rio.
“You’re shaking your finger “number one” and you’ve been caught for drug cheating”, she said.
But Efimova appealed and was reinstated, drawing the ire of USA swimmers, including King.
Australia’s Taylor McKeown, who finished behind Efimova at the 200-meter breaststroke said the Russian’s inclusion was “a shame” while Great Britain’s Chloe Tutton said she “wasn’t happy” with who was competing against her.
“She has a long road to go in sport, I hope, and I think in the end she will understand there are certain rules, there’s a procedure that regulates the participation of athletes”. However, in the past several days, 8 Russian athletes banned for doping were allowed back in the competition after winning appeals, and a lot of them were swimmers.
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Australia’s Chiller said she welcomed the support of some of the American swimmers for Horton but did not want the controversy affecting her swimmers’ performances.
