- Kyle Chalmers responded to Pan Zhanle
- The Olympic gold medalist claimed Chalmers ignored him
- But Chalmers says the claim is “bizarre.”
Kyle Chalmers says it’s “weird” to be accused of snubbing China’s freestyle gold medallist Pan Zhanle at the Paris Olympics.
The Australian claimed the silver medal behind Pan, who broke his own world record in the men’s 100m freestyle final on Wednesday night.
The Chinese swimmer later claimed that Chalmers had disrespected him.
“After finishing the 4x100m freestyle relay on the first day, I greeted Chalmers but he completely ignored me,” Pan told Chinese media.
‘Among them was also (Jack) Alexy from the US team. When we were training, our coach was on the deck and someone did a somersault and splashed water directly on the coach.
‘We found this behavior a little disrespectful.
“But we beat them all and broke the world record in such a difficult pool.”
Chalmers was taken aback by Pan’s comments.
Kyle Chalmers responds to Pan Zhanle’s ‘strange’ comments after his Olympic victory
Chalmers finished second behind the Chinese star in the men’s 100m freestyle final.
“I find it a bit strange, I punched him before the relay,” Chalmers said Thursday.
‘And then my focus turned to my teammates and my own career.
‘We laughed a lot together last night while we were doing warm-up exercises, but there were no problems on my end.’
Chalmers has vowed to continue swimming after the Paris Games, dismissing speculation that he will retire after extending his remarkable Olympic record.
“This is not my last individual event, I will not retire soon,” said the 26-year-old after stepping off the podium in Paris.
“I love it. I think I’ll keep doing it as long as I can.”
Pan set the first world record in the Paris pool, clocking 46.40 seconds, 0.40 seconds slower than his previous mark, a time Chalmers described as “insane.”
China’s team has been under increasing scrutiny since it was revealed that 23 of its swimmers tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the Tokyo Olympics three years ago.
Pan was not in the group of 23 allowed to compete in Tokyo after global anti-doping authorities accepted China’s explanation that the swimmers had eaten contaminated food at a team hotel.
Chalmers was diplomatic about Pan’s achievement in Paris.
Zhanle has faced allegations of anti-doping fraud following his stunning victory in Paris
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“I’m doing everything I can to win the race and I trust everyone else to do the same as me, staying true to the integrity of the sport,” he said.
“I trust that… he (Pan) deserves that gold medal.”
Romanian David Popovici, who won the bronze medal in the 100-meter freestyle, was equally pragmatic.
“I think we can go even faster, there are people alive and swimming who can do it,” Popvici said after the race.
‘It’s just a matter of putting it all together and doing it at the right time and I think it’s very possible, even faster.
‘This is just a motivation for us.
“I mean we can’t be angry, we can only congratulate him. This is sport.
“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty.”
