Zhanle Pan accused of doping after his world record: It’s humanly impossible

Chinese swimming remains under scrutiny after a scandal involving 23 of its athletes was uncovered in April

Zhanle Pan

Zhanle PanEFE

Swimmer Zhanle Pan surprised everyone in the 100m freestyle event with an impressive gold medal and an incredible time, which saw him set a new world record at the 2024 Olympic Games.

A time od 46.40 was posted by the Chinese swimmer, but his record is already being called into question due to the doping scandal that emerged in China just months ago.

Last April it was discovered that 23 swimmers tested positive for substances incompatible with top competition. While WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) were aware of it, more than half of them were able to participate in Tokyo.

The result saw China win six medals, four of them gold. China claimed that the result came from food contamination, something that WADA accepted despite the fact no evidence was presented.

Pan was not among the list of 23 athletes and he maintains that he has been closely monitored in recent times, never testing positive.

The swimmer smashed his own record, lowering it by four tenths from his February time, something Australian coach and former Olympian Brett Hawke believes is “humanly impossible.”

The swimmer, who competed in the Sydney and Athens Games, considers himself an expert in the matter and said: “I have studied them for thirty years, I have studied that sport, the speed…it is not real”.

The trainer claimed that it is impossible to lower a record that much in such a short time and that the Chinese swimmer won the race with unusual dominance.

“You can’t beat a pack like that, with a body length lead. They are the best in history. It’s humanly impossible,” Hawke claimed on Instagram.

A trusting rival

Pan won the race, but Hawke-trained swimmer Kyle Chambers came second. The Australian said he was convinced that his competitor was clean for the event.

“I have confidence in him, I think he did everything he could to be there and that he deserves that gold medal,” said Chambers.

Pan pulled almost a second ahead of Kyle, who only came in one hundredth of a second ahead of third. But the result did not leave Chambers feeling too down.

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He said after the race: “I did everything I could to win that race, and I think everyone did the same while staying true to the integrity of the sport”.

Even so, the shadow of doping continues to hang over the Chinese team, whose achievements will be heavily investigated going forward.