China rallies behind Olympic swim champ after his feats deemed not ‘humanly possible’

Olympic swimming champion Pan Zhanle has a wave of support from Chinese citizens and media outlets, following criticisms of his world record-breaking 100m freestyle swim at the Paris Olympics on Wednesday. Pan, 19, finished in 46.40 seconds, beating his own previous world record by 0.40 seconds and securing China’s first swimming gold medal at the Games.

Questioning legitimacy: Australian commentator Brett Hawke questioned the legitimacy of Pan’s win in an Instagram post in which he said “It’s not humanly possible to beat that field” and that the swim was “not real life. Not in that pool, against that field.” A doping scandal involving 23 Chinese swimmers in 2021 has led to increased scrutiny of the Chinese swimming team despite being cleared by the World Anti-Doping Agency.
In defense of Pan: Pan, who has passed 21 doping tests leading up to the Games, cited rigorous training and advanced technology as reasons for his success. The state-run Global Times, among other Chinese media outlets, has fiercely defended Pan, noting, “The Chinese swimming team underwent more tests in two weeks than foreign athletes did in an entire year.” Chinese swimmer Zhang Yufei told the press Thursday: “Why are Chinese athletes questioned when they swim so fast? Why didn’t anyone dare to question Phelps when he won?”

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