Adam Peaty has sensationally questioned China’s swimming victories in the Olympic Games, saying: “There’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair.”
Britain’s three-time Olympic champion also told the World Anti-Doping Agency to “wake up and do your job” as controversy over China’s participation intensified on the final day of the swimming action after the Chinese team claimed gold in the men’s 4×100 metre medley.
China pipped the USA on the last 50-metre stretch of a furiously tight race as Pan Zhanle set the fastest split ever recorded on the final leg of a relay. Britain, who briefly looked in the hunt for a medal at the start, faded to finish fourth.
Zhanle had already courted controversy after setting a world record in the 100m freestyle earlier in the week, which one leading Australian coach had branded “not humanly possible” after he shaved almost half a second off the time.
Doping allegations surrounding some members of the Chinese team have cast a huge cloud over the swimming events at the Paris Games after the New York Times and German broadcaster ARD alleged 23 of its members had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine (TMZ) in the build up to the Tokyo Olympics, 11 of whom are competing in Paris as part of the wider Chinese team.
Further allegations came to light last week that included a Chinese swimmer in Paris among four athletes to test positive in 2022 and 2023. A New York Times investigation claims Chinada, the nation’s anti-doping body, concluded two swimmers ingested the drug while eating hamburgers at a restaurant in Beijing.
“Following its investigation, Chinada concluded that the four cases were most likely linked to meat contamination and, in late 2023, closed the cases without asserting a violation, with the athletes having remained provisionally suspended throughout that time,” a Wada statement said.
Zhanle was not one of swimmers implicated in either scandal, but his remarkable performances in the pool – which included recording the biggest winning margin in the men’s 100m freestyle since 1928 – have been met with widespread scepticism. Following his record, Zhanle said he had been frequently visited by anti-doping testers, including on the day of his world record-shattering performance, and that he had never failed one.
‘Cheating is fraud’
But in a measure of his strength of feelings on the issue that has marred the sport over the past week, Peaty, who previously hit out after the World Anti-Doping Agency attributed the 23 Chinese athletes’ adverse analytical findings were due to contamination, called for more robust testing protocols, saying “cheating is fraud”.
“One of my favourite quotes I’ve seen lately is ‘there’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair’. I think you know that’s true in your heart. Even if you touch [the wall] and you know you’re cheating, you’re not winning fair,” said Peaty.
“So for me, if you’ve been contaminated twice, I think as an honourable person, I think you should be out of the sport. But we know sport isn’t that simple. I’ve also been asked by people who haven’t been under contamination, and I respect that, I don’t want to paint a whole nation or a whole group of people with one brush. I think that’s very unfair.
“But there have been two cases of it and I think it’s very disappointing. I’ve tried to keep it out of the conversations until now for the benefit of the team but I think we’re going to use that to our advantage over the next four years, whether I’m there or not. I know these boys will carry that and we’ll see how they do in four years’ time. But I think the people that need to do the job, wake up and do your job.”
Earlier this week, Chinada accused The New York Times of politicising doping issues and trying to “affect the psychology” of Chinese athletes, adding that it strictly follows anti-doping guidelines and condemning the US newspaper as “unfair and immoral”.
“[The New York Times’] main purpose is to disrupt the order of the Paris Olympic swimming competition, affect the psychology of Chinese athletes and weaken their competitive ability,” Chinada said in a statement on Wednesday. “This is extremely unfair and immoral.”
Peaty called for more robust testing protocols after the issue that has marred the sport over the past week, saying “cheating is fraud”.
“We have to have faith in the system,” he said. “It’s just got to be stricter. What I’ve said from the start is – and you’ll back me up on this – it’s fraud. If you’re cheating, it’s fraud. It’s not about the podium, because whoever’s in the race, I expect in my head it has to be fair to be there.
“We did our best job as a team to be there and it may have been bronze, who knows. Should have, would have, could have. I’m just happy I was able to come out of this illness this week and give my best and do it with honour and be fair.”
‘I have got to step away from the sport’
Meanwhile, Peaty, whose participation in the men’s relay had been laced with uncertainty in the wake of his illness, did not give any assurances about carrying on to the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“If my heart wants it, my heart wants it, and I’ll absolutely sign that contract with myself to do it,” he told the BBC. “But that may be a long way away. I think I have got to step away from the sport. It just hurt too much this time.
“Tonight, it could have been emotional, it was [coach Mel Marshall’s] last one with me and it might have been my last one here. I think she has got an incredible future ahead of her.
“I don’t know what the answer is. If my family needs me, my family needs me. If they want me to do it… I don’t know. If your heart doesn’t want it, your heart doesn’t want it. We are going to enjoy today rather than worry about tomorrow.”
Final day of swimming at Paris 2024: As it happened…
07:17 PM BST
Thanks for tuning in
That’ll do it for our blog today. Thanks for tuning in to a great final night of swimming!
07:14 PM BST
Team USA wins the medal count
07:13 PM BST
Team USA speak on their record breaking gold medal winning effort
Regan Smith:
“This is an incredible way to end things off. We are historically very strong in this relay and we weren’t about to end things now. We did what we came here to do.”
Lilly King:
“This relay is probably what we take most pride in in this country. I’m just so proud of these girls and what a way to cap off this meet.”
Gretchen Walsh:
“To come out on top of the medal count is something to be really proud of.”
Torri Huske:
“I was able to do it just because Team USA is so good – I have all of the staff to thank for believing in me and pushing me.”
07:07 PM BST
An historic week for swimming
La Defense Arena will go down as one of, if not the greatest, swimming stadium in history. What a week of Olympic swimming it’s been.
06:58 PM BST
China are gold medalists again
06:56 PM BST
Bobby Finke on his world record breaking effort
“I didn’t really have a plan to go out fast. I was just winging it. I saw I had a pretty good lead at the 100 and I was just gonna keep going and Greg was pushing me all the way.
“It was incredible to win like this and obviously a world record under my name – it’s incredible. I could see the world record line a couple of times when I was at the 50 – I knew I needed a bit more of a lead and I’m glad I was able to do it.
“The sport has grown a lot and it’s sad that we’re not dominating as much but it’s a good thing for the sport. It’s something to be proud of and to motivate us in the future.”
06:51 PM BST
That was spectacular
Team USA left no one in doubt there as they smashed the world record and proved why this is one of the greatest generations of women’s swimming we have seen. Their medal haul is phenomenal.
06:48 PM BST
A fine race but no medal
Britain could not add to their medal tally in the pool on the final day of the swimming action at the Paris Olympics after the 4x100m men’s relay team finished fourth.
The quartet of Oliver Morgan, Adam Peaty, Duncan Scott and Matt Richards found themselves out of the medal positions in a high class field as China pipped the USA to gold on the final length of the pool, with France in third.
It was unclear whether Peaty would take part in the relay after what he had described as a “tough” week recovering from Covid following his silver medal in the 100m breaststroke. But the three-time Olympic champion was preferred over fellow breaststroke specialist James Wilby.
In a sign that he had fully recovered, Peaty swam the second fastest breaststroke split of the race – even beating France superstar Leon Marchand in time of 1:50.99 – with his time only bettered by China’s Qin Haiyang.
It is the second team medal Britain have won in the pool in Paris, after the men successfully defended their 4 x 200 metre freestyle crown earlier in the week.
The relay triumph saw Britain’s claim five medals overall in the pool in Paris, one gold in the men’s 4x100m freestyle medley and four silvers in individual events.
06:40 PM BST
USA break the world record
What a convincing win from Team USA who smash the world record and win by some distance. Their final time was 3mins 49.63secs as Torrie Huske performed emphatically.
Australia will take silver almost three seconds behind with China in third.
06:40 PM BST
USA leading in the final stretch
Summer Macintosh is pushing hard as Australia and China chase close behind. Yang of China is going very strong as Macintosh fades.
In the end its Australia in second with Mollie O’Callaghan putting in a huge swim.
06:38 PM BST
300m
Team USA have a huge lead as Gretchen Walsh begins her Butterfly length. The battle it seems is for silver and bronze. Canada are in second with Maggie McNeil and are pulling away.
06:37 PM BST
200m
King is enjoying this lead. Sophie Angus is having a good swim for Canada though. The Chinese team are on their tail.
06:37 PM BST
100m
Raegen Smith takes first place emphatically as Team USA come into their first takeover.
06:36 PM BST
Here we go
A strong start from Australia. China, Canada, and USA are all there with them.
06:35 PM BST
Team USA want another medal
This event is headlined by the imperious Team USA whose team is littered with medals. Gretchen Walsh has two silver and one gold Torri Huske has two gold and two silver, and Regan Smith has three silver and one gold. Eleven medals is certainly something to fear.
After the men’s race Team USA and Australia are stilled tied at seven gold medals each.
06:34 PM BST
Now its the women’s turn
Here’s the lanes for the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final:
Lane 1- France
Lane 2- Japan
Lane 3- China
Lane 4- Australia
Lane 5- Canada
Lane 6- USA
Lane 7- Sweden
Lane 8- Netherlands
06:31 PM BST
So close for Team GB
Just a second outside a medal spot, that was so close for the Britons. They’ll go home happy but frustrated they couldn’t get one here.
06:31 PM BST
Daniel Wiffen on his bronze medal
“Not gonna lie it [Bobby Finke’s early lead] took me by surprise. I did not expect Bobby to come out like that. It was a bit stupid of me because its the Olympic finals where anything can happen
“I’m an Olympic champion, you can’t ask for anything else.
“At the start I wasn’t aware of how far they were at the front because my view was blocked by Greg.
“I’m one of the best male sportsmen ever in Irish history.
“I’m swimming in the Seine on Friday, but for now I’m gonna celebrate and get some sleep.”
06:18 PM BST
China win!
Team USA finish second and France in third. What an incredibly tight finish.
The winning time was 3min 27.46secs. Team GB ended up fourth, just a second outside the medal spots.
06:18 PM BST
350m
Hunter Armstrong in for the USA and they’re catching up here, it’s going to be a tight finish… Team GB have fallen behind.
06:17 PM BST
300m
France lead over China as Maximme Broussait makes a monumental effort for the home nation.
06:16 PM BST
200m
China in front, France in second, Britain in third as the butterfly begins.
06:16 PM BST
150m
It’s Peaty versus Finke and its very close. Marchand has battled his way back and its so even here. Qin of China leads as we come up to 200m.
06:15 PM BST
50m
Team GB are in third place at the turn thanks to Oliver Morgan.
06:14 PM BST
We are off
A great start for Team USA and Xu of China.
06:13 PM BST
Here’s how they line up
Lane 1- Canada
Lane 2- Great Britain
Lane 3- USA
Lane 4- France
Lane 5- China
Lane 6- Netherlands
Lane 7- Australia
Lane 8- Germany
06:13 PM BST
What a reception
There’s a roar as Marchand walks out. Fantastic support for the home grown superstar.
06:12 PM BST
America the favourites
Team USA broke the World and Olympic records in Tokyo back in 2021.
06:11 PM BST
Peaty is here
Adam Peaty is back after his spell with Covid – can he help Team GB win their final medal in the swimming?
It’s the last night of the swimming action and Great Britain have one last chance to add to their medal tally in the men’s 4x100m medley. Big news as Adam Peaty returns to the pool – he swam in Friday’s heat – but opted to sit out of the mixed relay action. Could this be his last ever Olympic race?
06:10 PM BST
Bragging rights
Australia and USA are tied on the gold medal count in the swimming at seven each. That’s a rivalry to look out for here…
06:09 PM BST
Team GB with a chance
Next up is the Men’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final and Team GB will be competing for a medal in Lane 2.
The British team is composed of Oliver Morgan, Adam Peaty, Joe Richard Litchfield, and Matthew Richards.
06:08 PM BST
Sara Sjoestroem wins gold at her fifth Olympics
“Its fantastic, I never through I would win two golds at my fifth Olympic games. its crazy to be one of those girls whose won both 50m and 100m freestyle.
“I don’t think I’ve felt as prepared as I did here but its just about getting it done when it matters. That’s the big challenge but I did it here.”
She’ll be back in action soon for the Women’s 4x100m Medley Relay Final soon.
06:00 PM BST
Wiffen takes bronze
05:59 PM BST
The only individual gold medal for Team USA
Normally one of their strongest sports, this is somehow their first. Finke has prevented the US from breaking a 124 year streak.
05:56 PM BST
Finke breaks the world record
Finke has done it, he’s set a new world record at 14min 30.67secs. What an incredible swim! The greatest long distance swimmer to ever do it.
Paltrinieri comes second and in the end it wasn’t close – he finished 3.88s behind.
Daniel Wiffen will take bronze.
05:54 PM BST
1400m
Paltrinieri is pushing hard but it must be too little too late… right?
05:53 PM BST
1300m
Two seconds under world record pace. This is an historic swim from the American but Paltrinieri is clawing it back. We could be in for a tight finish.
05:53 PM BST
1200m
Finke isn’t waiting for a race to develop here, he’s challenging the rest of the pool to meet him there. He’s a length ahead of world record pace here – incredible. Paltrinieri is also on world record pace but Finke is putting together a fantastic swim.
05:51 PM BST
1100m
Patrinieri is holding on just a length behind Finke as Wiffen has begun to fade.
05:50 PM BST
1000m
This is a three man race as all other contenders have fallen far behind as we go into the final 500m.
05:49 PM BST
900m
Wiffen is just two seconds behind the leader, Paltrinieri just half a second.
05:49 PM BST
800m
Finke is still on World Record pace – could he do it?
05:48 PM BST
750m
At the halfway mark Wiffen has closed the back but hasn’t made his move to overtake yet. The Italian may fade soon but how strong will Finke hold?
05:47 PM BST
600m
Wiffen needs to start to impose himself on this final. Platrinieri and Finke are four metres ahead.
05:46 PM BST
500m
Finke is only a second under world record pace here as he doesn’t look like slowing down. Paltrinieri is pulling back allowing Wiffen to come back into this.
05:45 PM BST
400m
The front three is getting closer as Finke’s fast start is cut down.
05:44 PM BST
300m
Finke leads by three metres on the Italian. Daniel Wiffen is pushing back only four metres off the leader.
05:43 PM BST
200m
Finnke in first with Paltrinieri of Italy behind.
05:43 PM BST
150m
The gap is widening between in Finke and the chasers. The 16 year old sensation Tuncelli is not far off.
05:42 PM BST
100m
Bobby Finke of Team USA and defending champion is at the lead – can he be the first American man to win an individual gold medal.
05:41 PM BST
And we’re off
50 metres in and Wiffen is in second place behind Tuncelli.
05:38 PM BST
Here’s how they line up
Lane 1- Damien Joly (France)
Lane 2- Kuzey Tuncelli (Turkey)
Lane 3- Ahmed Jaouadi (Tunisia)
Lane 4- Daniel Wiffen (Ireland)
Lane 5- Gregorio Paltrinieri (Italy)
Lane 6- David Aubry (France)
Lane 7- Bobby Finke (USA)
Lane 8- David Beltehem (Hungary)
05:38 PM BST
Huge cheers for Damien Joly
The Frenchman is clearly the crowd’s favourite
05:37 PM BST
Next up the Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final
Irish sensation Daniel Wiffen swam fastest in qualification, posting a time of 14min 40.34secs — over two seconds faster than Gregorio Paltrinieri. He won gold in the 800m Freestyle, beating out his Italian counterpart who took bronze.
“I don’t think I put a hard stroke in at all,” said Wiffen.
“It was a very fast time to be fair I thought I went around 14.45 and to go 14.40 now I mean that’s pretty pretty good for the heats, fastest I’ve ever been and it’s a top five time for me so I’m pretty happy with that.”
05:34 PM BST
Sjoestroem wins it
Sarah Sjoestroem comes fast in the second part of the race and wins the gold. She put up a time of 23.71secs – just a tenth of a second off her world record.
Meg Harris of Australia comes second and Yufei Zhang finishes third for China.
Walsh misses out by one-hundredth of a second.
05:34 PM BST
Here we go
It’s a fantastic start from Walsh who leads early here…
05:33 PM BST
Gretchen Walsh comes out
Gretchen already has two silver medals and one gold. Can she push Sjoestroem in what is HER event.
05:29 PM BST
Women’s 50m Freestyle Final
Here’s how they line up:
Lane 1- Qingfeng Wu (China)
Lane 2- Shayna Jack (Australia)
Lane 3- Katarzyna Wasick (Poland)
Lane 4- Sarah Sjoestroem (Sweden)
Lane 5- Gretchen Walsh (USA)
Lane 6- Yufei Zhang (China)
Lane 7- Meg Harris (Australia)
Lane 8- Neza Klancar (Slovenia)
05:24 PM BST
First up…
The Women’s 50m Freestyle Final
Sarah Sjoestroem holds both the World and Olympic records, with the former an incredible 23.61secs. She already has gold in the 100m freestyle and will be looking to complete here sprinting season with a second.
05:22 PM BST
Winning gold in the relay
As we head into another relay in which Team GB will be seeking a medal, let’s look back at our golden effort in the Men’s 200m Freestyle Final.
They were the only team to break seven minutes, posting a time of 6mins 59.43secs.
The team included Duncan Scott who took silver in the 200m Individual Medley just a second behind Marchand.
Matthew Richards swam well and will feature in today’s 100m Medley Relay.
James Guy and Tom Dean made up the rest of the team.
It was a Herculean effort from the British team which managed to beat out a star-studded American quartet.
These boys 🥹🥹🥹
The first Olympic Swimming relay title to ever be successfully defended by a British team 👑🇬🇧 pic.twitter.com/iKBrcXgHDv
— Aquatics GB (@Aquatics_GB) July 30, 2024
05:19 PM BST
Disqualified for going too deep?
Team GB double Olympic medallist Luke Greenbank was disqualified from the 200m Backstroke after he spent too long underwater.
You are only allowed to dive for 15m before resurfacing in Olympic swimming. This is the rule which Greenbank broke which cost him the event.
05:15 PM BST
Is the pool too small?
We’ve seen far less records broken in these Olympics than previously and Telegraph Sport has the reason why.
A smaller pool means less space between the swimmers and the walls. This causes the waves and ripples created by the athletes to bounce back faster and stronger, disrupting the rhythm.
The pool is in La Défence Arena which is mostly home to Rugby Union side Racing 92 – not a swimming venue. Therefore, the temporary nature of the structure has resulted in the size anomaly and the evidence suggests it is affecting the swimmers, however marginally.
05:12 PM BST
Peaty missed out and Britain failed to defend their title
Team GB won a historic gold at the Olympics in Rio three years ago in the Mixed 4×100 Relay but were unable to defend their title.
There was a degree of uncertainty in the build-up to the event when Adam Peaty was confirmed to have contracted Covid the day after winning silver in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final.
Peaty decided to announce this as “an advocate for complete transparency”.
Wilby was selected to replace him, set to compete with home favourite Leon Marchand.
He will return to the pool this evening to help Britain in the Men’s 4x100m Medley Final. Team GB will be crossing their fingers that he has sufficiently recovered.
05:02 PM BST
Team GB seeking gold in the Men’s 100m Medley Final
The British team is composed of Oliver Morgan, Adam Peaty, Joe Richard Litchfield, and Matthew Richards.
Peaty rather dramatically took silver in the Men’s 100m Breaststroke Final earlier in these Olympics, finishing just two one-hundredths of a second off of gold. It was then reported that he had contracted Covid, forcing a scramble to avoid an outbreak amongst the team.
Oliver Morgan will man the backstroke. The 21 year old placed eighth in the Men’s 100m Backstroke Final.
Litchfield is a relay specialist and competed in the mixed edition of this race for Team GB.
Matthew Richards spectacularly won silver in the 200m freestyle, speeding ahead of the American Luke Hobson and missing gold by two one-hundredths of a second, like teammate Peaty.
The Britons will be up against a strong French side which qualified fastest and features the imperious Leon Marchand who already has four gold medals. Any more and he may struggle to carry them home!
04:58 PM BST
Welcome
Thanks for joining us for the final day of Olympic swimming where we have four medal races.
First up is the Women’s 50m Freestyle Final where the sprinting Swede Sarah Sjoestroem looks to continue her dominance in the event.
Next is the Men’s 1500m Freestyle Final where we swap out a short dash for a marathon.
The Men’s 4x100m Medley Final will follow. This is the only event in which Team GB is represented. Adam Peaty will rejoin his teammates after his stint with Covid as the team look to improve on their semi-final time and end their Olympics with a medal.
We’ll finish with the Women’s edition of the 4x100m Medley Final. This event is headlined by the imperious Team USA whose team is littered with medals. Gretchen Walsh has two silver and one gold Torri Huske has two gold and two silver, and Regan Smith has three silver and one gold. Eleven medals is certainly something to fear.
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