China’s Zhang says she’d ‘rather die in the pool’ than quit after sickness hits 200m swim
- Zhang says she had been struggling with fever and other issues before winning bronze in the women’s 200m butterfly
Zhang Yufei hit back at questions surrounding doping after earning a bronze medal in the women’s 200 metres butterfly at the Paris Olympics.
Less than 24 hours earlier, fellow Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle had been accused of achieving a world record “not humanly possibly” by the coach of silver medallist in the race Kyle Chalmers.
Zhang, 26, queried why no Westerners who achieved world-record times in the pool are interrogated in a similar fashion.
“Why are Chinese athletes questioned when they swim fast, but no one dares to question [Michael] Phelps or [Katie] Ledecky previously?” the 26-year-old said in a press briefing in Paris on Friday. “I don’t think the doping incident will have any serious impact on us because we are innocent.”
Doping has been a hot topic surrounding Chinese athletes given the revelation earlier this year that 23 swimmers had failed tests before the Tokyo Olympic, but were cleared by the World Anti-Doping Association to compete.
And Zhang’s defiant reply garnered plenty of support on Chinese social media.
