During the inaugural swimming session of the Olympic Games, held at the La Défense Arena in Paris, the “Butterfly Queen”, Zhang Yufei, secured a victory with an impressive time of 56.50 seconds in the second of four heats for the women’s 100m butterfly. The 26-year-old athlete, known for winning four medals at the Tokyo Olympics including gold in the 200m butterfly, stirred controversy as she was one of the 23 Chinese swimmers who had tested positive for the prohibited drug Trimetazidine (TMZ) seven months earlier in a domestic event.
Competing in the same heat was Irish swimmer, Ellen Walshe, known for her prowess in the 400m individual medley scheduled to start on Monday. However, the 22-year-old finished sixth with a time of 58.70 seconds, shy of her Irish record of 57.96, ranking her at 22nd of the total 31 contestants. Walshe, despite calling this performance below her usual standards, seemed positive and stated she welcomed the opportunity, allowing her to acclimatise to the atmosphere at the Olympic pool before the main event.
Meanwhile, Zhang Yufei, despite an impressive win, fell short of rival Gretchen Walsh’s world record time of 55.18 set at the US Olympic trials the previous month. Walsh herself finished fourth overall in the heats with a time of 56.75.
In the later women’s 4x100m freestyle relay, the Irish team comprising Danielle Hill, Grace Davison, Erin Riordan and Victoria Catterson missed out on their Irish time record of 3:41.75 by less than a second, ending at eighth place with a time of 3:42.67.
European 50m backstroke champion Hill initiated the competition, leading the first lap in 55.61 seconds, placing Ireland seventh. Followed by Davison, a 16-year-old prodigy, who wowed everyone with a second lap timing of 55.44 seconds. The third lap was lead by Riordan, clocking in at 55.95 seconds, and Catterson anchored the final lap in 55.67 seconds, leaping Ireland out of the seventh spot, surpassing Hong Kong. Australia championed the second heat in 3:31.57, edging out China who clocked in at 3:34.31. The Irish women’s team emerged 16th out of 16th, however, secured their qualification in the last position for the Paris Olympics, a historic achievement as the first Irish women’s relay team to compete in the games since 1972.
In 2021, 23 Chinese swimmers were expelled from the punishment, following an investigation by China’s anti-doping authority. They all tested positive for minute amounts of TMZ, a substance found in the hotel kitchen during their stay. World Aquatics and World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recognised this finding.
Details on the drug testing in World Aquatics revealed that each of the 31 Chinese swimmers was tested at least 10 times, with an average of 13 tests per swimmer from January 1st until their arrival in France. In light of this, Qin Haiyang, a Chinese swimmer and the record holder for the men’s 200m breaststroke, retaliated on social media claiming these repeated drug tests in Paris were a ploy to disrupt the Chinese team’s rhythm.
Qin also suggested that the European and American teams felt threatened by China’s recent performance. He defiantly stated that they would not succumb to these tactics and promises to win more medals to counteract sceptics, despite the possibility that such achievements may only fuel existing doubts.