“We have some tough young kids in our team and I think that is something special”, he told reporters in Rio.
Advertisement
Monday night’s swim, then, was supercharged with tension as King not only sought to go for gold for the USA but also to represent her and others’ views about performance-enhancing drugs.
Speaking at a tense news conference after her race, alongside gold medalist Lily King of the United States who publicly criticized her opponent’s doping record the previous day, Efimova said it was “hurtful” that athletes were involving themselves in politics.
While King and Miele celebrated, Efimova, 24, – who is also entered in the 200m breaststroke – hung on her lane rope before departing the pool deck alone.
The two will battle it out tonight. But Efimova appealed and was reinstated, drawing the ire of US swimmers, including King.
King isn’t the only one who’s made her voice heard. “I’m just not a fan”, the 19-year-old King said. “But that was all I could do right now”, the Russian athlete said.
The US victor was backed up by her teammate, swimming legend Michael Phelps.
King said after her gold medal swim that she hoped to make a statement on behalf of the USA and other athletes “that we can still compete clean and do well at the Olympic games and that’s how it should be”.
“Do I think people who have been caught for doping offences should be on the team?”
“To have somebody test positive not just once but twice and still have the opportunity to swim at these Games, it breaks my heart”, Phelps said.
Yefimova tested positive for an endogenous steroid hormone that was banned in professional sports in 2014. The CAS decision allowed the Russian to compete in the Rio Olympics 2016.
Americans found themselves cheering heartily for their fellow statesman, and when she proved victorious, we were all celebrating alongside her as she enjoyed a bit of well-deserved gloating toward her rival. “It’s like I am seeing athletics with two or three dopers in every final”, he was quoted as saying by French media.
“I don’t really understand the foreign competitors”.
Advertisement
RIO DE JANEIRO Weakened and bruised by sport’s biggest doping scandal in decades, Russian Federation is under siege at the Rio Games.
