Under the dual discomfort of fever and menstrual period, Zhang Yufei won the bronze medal in the women's 200-meter butterfly at the Paris Olympics, becoming the "first person" in Chinese swimming with 7 individual Olympic medals. Off the field, she continued to fight on the "battlefield without gunpowder smoke" and responded domineeringly to the topic of doping that foreign media repeatedly entangled: "Phelps and Ledecky in the United States are so powerful, why don't you question it?!"
The post-race press conference of the women's 200-meter butterfly became Zhang Yufei's personal event as the other two winners participated in the relay race. At the press conference, foreign media asked whether frequent inspections and external doubts about Chinese swimmers' involvement in food contamination incidents had affected China's swimming performance.
"I think we should cooperate with the increasing number of doping tests for our Chinese athletes, because after this incident, the number of tests for both Chinese and foreign athletes has increased accordingly. Cooperating with the tests is the responsibility of each of our athletes Or something that elite athletes should do. "
" But when it comes to this topic, everyone may be a little irritated when they are woken up for testing at around 5 o'clock in the morning. We are not undergoing doping tests. It lowered China’s swimming goals at the Paris Olympics.”
In fact, the World Swimming Federation and the World Anti-Doping Agency have made multiple clarifications on the food contamination incidents involving Chinese swimmers, but some Western media are still struggling. Zhang Yufei said: "I don't think it will have any serious impact on us, because we are all innocent. The whole ins and outs, the World Swimming Federation and all parties have sorted out the time very clearly and clarified it. As for some people still don't believe it. If so, we will have no choice but to make unnecessary arguments, because those who are clean will be cleansed themselves.”
A reporter from Channel 7 of Australian TV station claimed that he had asked Zhang Yufei for the ninth time and wanted Zhang Yufei to answer how he was involved in the doping scandal. , also said it was difficult to accept that Pan Zhanle won the men's 100-meter freestyle battle with a world record-breaking result the day before.
Zhang Yufei replied calmly: "It is inappropriate to expose our names. I believe that the FINA is a fair existence and will not allow a certain country to make special actions or cover up. Why does the FINA not Is this matter announced by other countries? The World Swimming Federation has investigated clearly, and it is also to protect our 23 athletes from being interfered by other outside voices, so that we can prepare for the Olympics normally.”
"Now that the news has been announced, especially some foreign websites using my profile picture, it has really troubled me. This is not my problem, but I have to bear the consequences. I feel that I have nothing to explain the incident itself. Yes, as an athlete who is still struggling in the swimming pool, I will worry that my partners will question me and be unwilling to compete with me. The audience will not want to watch me compete and will wear some colored glasses to question me. Training ability.”
Zhang Yufei also introduced Pan Zhanle’s situation. "Before Pan Zhanle swam 46.40 seconds yesterday, he had swam into 47 seconds many times, and within the same year. We can see his steady upward trend. He did not suddenly jump from 47.5 seconds to 46.4 seconds. Only his coach and himself can know that Pan Zhanle can swim so fast. Doping tests can give clear results. "
" Why are American athletes questioned when they swim fast? When Phelps won 8 gold medals, why did no one dare to question him? Ledecki dominated the women's middle and long distance freestyle for so many years from 2012 to 2024, winning gold medals in every session. Why? No one questioned her?" Zhang Yufei asked.
Later, when attending a press conference as a member of the women's 4x200m freestyle relay bronze medal team, Yang Junxuan also said when faced with similar questions: "The World Swimming Federation, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the China Anti-Doping Center have all given very clear instructions. Statements and explanations, you can read them when you have questions."
"The results achieved by Chinese swimming today are based on scientific training. We will use our strength to prove that our results are absolutely innocent and there are absolutely no problems. Chinese athletes also have the most number of doping tests in the world. We have been cooperating vigorously and believe that there will be fair and just results. " Yang Junxuan said.
Source: Xinhua News Agency
