Yulia Efimova is to compete at the Olympics after all.
In a bizarre turn to the Russian doping scandal, world swimming governing body FINA on Saturday said that Efimova would indeed be taking part in the 100m breaststroke.
The reigning world champion was listed on the start sheet in the fifth of six heats for the preliminaries yesterday. She was also expected to swim in the 200m breaststroke and, presumably, the 4x100m medley relay.
Photo: AP
The 24-year-old Efimova has been a flashpoint in the scandal because she not only served a 16-month suspension for doping, she tested positive again this year for the now-banned substance meldonium.
That result was placed on hold while the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) does further studies on the drug, which was added to the banned list at the start of the year.
As part of the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision not to throw the entire Russian team out of the Olympics, Efimova was initially banned along with six other Russian swimmers who either had positive tests on their record or were named in an investigation of the massive, state-sanctioned doping scheme.
Now, it looks like they will all be competing in Rio de Janeiro, though FINA has never released official confirmation.
Instead, the swimmers are quietly being added to the start lists. That is what happened on Saturday, after the initial list for the women’s 100 butterfly did not include Natalia Lovtcova.
The list was revised just hours before the preliminaries, adding Lovtcova to the last of six heats. She finished 26th overall and failed to advance to the semi-finals.
Vladimir Morozov, Nikita Lobintsev, Daria Ustinova, Mikhail Dovgalyuk and Anastasia Krapivina were also expected to compete after initially being banned from the Olympics.
“For an athlete that’s clean, it’s really frustrating for me to see that,” Canadian swimmer Ryan Cochrane said. “Once the Games are over, that’s something we’ll all look back on and [wish] was handled better throughout the quadrennial, not just before the Olympics.”
In the men’s 400m freestyle, Mack Horton called Chinese swimmer Sun Yang a drugs cheat, and then went out and dethroned the defending Olympic champion.
Horton won his first Olympic gold medal with a time of 3 minutes, 41.55 seconds on Saturday night.
Sun finished second.
After the preliminaries, Horton was asked about a reported incident between him and Sun at the practice pool earlier in the week.
Horton said that Sun had “splashed me to say hello and I didn’t respond, because I don’t have time for drug cheats.”
Sun served a three-month suspension in 2014 for using a banned stimulant.
“The last 50m I was thinking about what I said and what would happen if he gets me here,” said Horton, who beat Sun by 0.13 seconds.
“I didn’t have a choice but to beat him,” Horton said.
He was asked by a Chinese reporter why he described Sun that way.
“I used the words drug cheat because he tested positive,” the Australian said. “I just have a problem with athletes who have tested positive and are still competing.”
Horton celebrated his victory without even acknowledging Sun in the lane next to him. Sun made a move as though he wanted to congratulate Horton, but the winner looked the other way. They got out of the pool together, but acted as if the other did not exist.
“I don’t think we need to care too much about what the Australian says,” Sun said through a translator. “I’ve got a gold medal [from 2012] and my world ranking. I don’t need to prove myself anymore.”
Sun defended himself after the race.
“I am clean,” he said. “I’ve done whatever it takes to prove I’m a clean athlete.”
Horton and Sun finally gave each other a handshake on the medal stand, but that was about it.
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