An Australian swimming coach and former Olympian has questioned the legitimacy of Chinese star Pan Zhanle and his astonishing world record swim at the Paris Olympics.
Pan destroyed a high-class field and then took aim at two of his rivals in Australian Kyle Chalmers and American Jack Alexy, with the Chinese star winning by a body length to claim the coveted 100m freestyle gold medal.
In doing so, the 19-year-old also broke his own world record by nearly half a second – the biggest winning margin in the men’s 100m freestyle since Johnny Weissmuller, the American swimmer and actor better known for playing Tarzan, in 1928.
Pan’s win was the first time a swimming world record has tumbled at these Games. The pool’s relatively shallow depth has been blamed for the slow times across the sport, but Pan defied that logic with a dominant display.
It came in the wake of the Chinese doping scandal, in which it was revealed that the Chinese anti-doping authorities dismissed failed tests among its elite swimmers, blaming contamination at a hotel kitchen, and World Anti-Doping took no action.
Pan was not implicated in the scandal, but that hasn’t prevented swimming coach Brett Hawke – who is not part of the current Australian Olympic setup – from speculating on his performance.
“I am angry at that swim,” Hawke posted on Instagram. “I’m upset right now because you don’t win 100 freestyle by a body length on that field. You just don’t do it. It is not humanly possible to beat that field by a body length. I don’t care what you say. This is not a race thing, this is not against any one particular person or nation, this is just what I see and what I know.
“That’s not real, you don’t beat that field. Kyle Chalmers, David Popovici, Jack Alexy, you don’t beat those guys by one full body length in 100 freestyle. That’s not humanly possible, OK, so don’t sell it to me, don’t shove it down my throat. It’s not real.”
Hawke also posted a message which read: “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is.”
However Chalmers, who won silver, backed his rival. “I do everything I possibly can to win the race and trust everyone’s doing the same as I am, staying true to the integrity of sport,” Chalmers said. “He deserves that gold medal.”