China snaps U.S. men’s streak in Olympic medley relay, closing swim slate full of questions with second gold

China won the gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter medley relay Sunday, ending the United States’ undefeated record in the race at the Olympics and closing a swimming program in which Chinese swimmers have faced questions about a doping scandal from the Tokyo Games three years ago.

Pan Zhanle, on his 20th birthday, swam the final leg, the 100-meter freestyle, in 45.92 seconds, taking China from third to first to help it claim its 12th medal (second gold) in swimming at these Olympics. Pan won the other gold by setting a world record in the 100-meter free Wednesday.

The U.S., which took silver, was 15 for 15 in the event since its debut in 1960, winning every year but 1980, when the country boycotted. France won bronze ahead of Great Britain.

China won 12 swimming medals in Paris, doubling its tally from Tokyo, though finishing with one fewer gold. But its successes were met with scrutiny — which extended to the sport’s regulations.

The background: On April 20, reporting from The New York Times and German broadcaster ARD revealed 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for a banned substance seven months before the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 — and were never punished. The banned substance was trimetazidine (TMZ), a prescription heart drug that can enhance performance by increasing blood flow to the heart.

Some of the athletes who tested positive went on to medal in Tokyo. The swimmers were allowed to compete in the Olympics after the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accepted China’s findings that suggested the Chinese swimmers unwittingly ingested the substance from food they ate at a hotel.

U.S. star Katie Ledecky and other American swimmers expressed their support for stringent anti-doping policies in the days before the Games. “I hope everyone here (in Paris) is going to be competing clean this week,” Ledecky said on July 24. “But what really matters also is: Were they training clean? Hopefully, that’s been the case. Hopefully, there’s been even testing around the world. I think everyone’s heard what the athletes think. They want transparency. They want further answers to the questions that still remain.”

On Sunday, Great Britain swimmer Adam Peaty, part of the relay team that finished fourth, expressed further skepticism about the system.

“I think we’ve got our faith in the system, but we also don’t,” he said, according to the Associated Press. “Whoever’s in the race, I expect in my head that it has to be fair for them to be there. We did our best job as a team to do that, and it may have been (worthy of) a bronze. Who knows?”

The Chinese swimmers were not shielded from the questions. Pan, the two-time gold medalist, was not one of the 23 swimmers who tested positive before Tokyo. But he said he was tested 21 times from May through July, according to The New York Times.

“The test was essentially done under all the regulations, so I don’t feel there was any difference or influence,” he said after his gold in the 100-meter freestyle.

Pan also said he encountered tension from his peers, though any issues were reportedly smoothed out. Pan reportedly told a Chinese broadcaster Australian swimmer Kyle Chalmers snubbed him after the 4×100 freestyle relay on July 27, but Chalmers, who finished second in the 100 free, told reporters no harm was intended and they’ve exchanged messages.

“I’m supposed to be going to the world cup series and the first leg is in Shanghai. He’s looking forward to having me there and wanted to show me around, so that makes me a lot more excited about going,” Chalmers said, according to The Guardian.

Zhang Yufei, one of the swimmers who tested positive for TMZ before Tokyo and won silver and five bronze medals in Paris, said at the start of the Games she hoped her competitors would believe she is competing clean.

“I don’t think there’s a single athlete, Chinese or foreign, who would test positive for doping,” she said, according to the AP. “They would not want to destroy all the hard work they’ve put in over the years on doping.”

What happens next is unclear. After The New York Times reported Tuesday two Chinese swimmers were cleared of doping in 2022 because of contaminated food, WADA said it was concerned about how many cases are being closed due to food contamination, not just in China but in several countries.

WADA said it began an investigation in early 2024 into the “circumstances, scale and risk of meat contamination with metandienone” in China and other countries. That investigation is still ongoing, it said.

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(Photo: Adam Pretty / Getty Images)