A leading Australian swimming coach has led criticism of Pan Zhanle’s stunning 100m freestyle world record after saying the Chinese swimmer’s performance in the pool was “not humanly possible”.
Brett Hawke led the international disbelief among some quarters after the 19-year-old stormed to gold in 46.40 seconds to beat nearest rival Kyle Chalmers by more than a second.
Pan destroyed a high-class field to shave almost half a second off his own world record in the biggest winning margin in the men’s 100m freestyle since American Johnny Weissmuller in 1928, but his performance has been overshadowed by ongoing suspicions surrounding the Chinese team.
The 19-year-old said that he was not concerned by the doping row that has engulfed China’s swimming team at the Paris Games, despite being named in an investigation by The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD.
It reported that 23 athletes at Tokyo 2020 failed drugs tests for a banned heart medication, 11 of whom are competing in the Olympics, and a further two athletes were cleared after testing positive for a strong anabolic steroid in 2022 that was blamed on contaminated meat.