Efimova has been booed every time she has entered the pool arena at Rio, while King added fuel to the fire on Sunday during the heats when the pair exchanged angry glances before she told reporters she was not happy with the Russian competing.
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Phelps, who is known as the “Baltimore Bullet”, has never tested positive for any kind of banned substance.
But Americans were involved in the doping controversy as well, Tracy reports, and when asked if USA track stars Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, both of whom were previously banned for drug offenses, should be allowed to compete, Lilly King said no.
“I’m just happy for the U.S. to know I am competing clean and doing what is right”, King said after defeating Efimova in the 100m breaststroke earlier in the week. She then backed it all up with the swim of her life and a top spot on the podium, standing next to her vanquished rival.
Yulia Efimova of Russian Federation with her silver medal after the women’s 200m breaststroke final in the Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games at Olympic Aquatics Stadium on August 11.
“You’re shaking your finger no. 1, and you’ve been caught for drug cheating”. “I just tried to be myself”.
Monday night’s swim, then, was supercharged with tension as King not only sought to go for gold for the US but also to represent her and others’ views about performance-enhancing drugs. “There is a way to become the best and do it the right way”.
“Again, I have to respect [the International Olympic Committee’s] decision, even if it’s not something I necessarily agree with”.
Just imagine the possibilities! “I think that the incentives to dope were built into the system a long time ago”.
In response to the negative reaction, Efimova told Tass: “I understand the people who didn’t congratulate me because the media was full of fake stories about me, but on the other hand I don’t really understand the foreign competitors”.
Efimova won another silver medal Thursday and rather than slip into the shadows and accept the two silvers, that she probably shouldn’t have been allowed to swim for, Efimova reached deep into the bad of stupidity and threw rocks at the greatest Olympian in the history of the Olympics. But Efimova appealed and was reinstated, drawing the ire of USA swimmers, including King.
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She was subsequently cleared to compete by FINA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Efimova took silver, more than a half-second behind.
