‘Repulsive’: 605 million turn on Kyle Chalmers after China storm

Kyle Chalmers has become the central figure in a “tsunami” of outrage that has been unleashed at the Paris Olympics.

China's Pan Zhanle (R) celebrates next to Australia's Kyle Chalmers after winning the final of the men's 100m freestyle swimming event during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre, west of Paris, on July 31, 2024. (Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP)

Kyle Chalmers has become public enemy No. 1 in China as the explosive fallout to the men’s 100m freestyle final continues to rage.

The drama has got pricklier and pricklier, despite Chalmers making public comments in which he said it was “weird” for Olympic champ Zhanle Pan to suggest he’d been snubbed by the Aussie silver medallist earlier in the Games.

Pan raised eyebrows with his historic 46.40 world record swim with Chalmers a full 1.08 seconds behind.

Chinese sports fans on Thursday hailed their country’s first swimming gold of the Paris Olympics and hit back at doping allegations that have surrounded Pan, despite no evidence to suggest he had broken anti-doping rules.

It is the claims made against Chalmers that have made the Aussie “super fish” the target of social media attacks on Chinese social media platform “Weibo”.

The 605 million users of the social media platform appear to be basking in Pan’s triumph, throwing it in the face in what has been described as “perceived foreign disdain”.

A video of Pan having a crack at Chalmers’ sportsmanship has gone viral in China.

“After we finished the 4x100m freestyle relay on the first day, I greeted Chalmers, but he completely ignored me,” he said in comments translated into English.

Silver medallist Kyle Chalmers (L), gold medallist Pan Zhanle (C) and bronze medallist David Popovici (R). Photo by Jonathan NACKSTRAND / AFP.

“This also included the US team’s (Jack) Alexy. When we trained, our coach was on the deck, and someone did a flip turn and splashed water directly on the coach.

“This behaviour seemed a bit disrespectful to us.”

According to reports, trending hashtags surrounding the video on the site include “Chalmers ignored Pan Zhanle’s greetings” and “Pan Zhanle says the Americans look down on us a bit”.

The hashtags have 260 million views and 110 million views, respectively.

The comments have been loaded. One Twitter influencer said there had been “a tsunami of online complaints and public fury” across Weibo.

“Some Westerners always believe they are superior to others. Instead of taking responsibility for their own mistakes, they would smear others if they were to lose. That’s why their countries are losing competitiveness and falling behind,” said one Weibo user.

Chinas Zhanle Pan showboated before shaking hands with his competitors. Pic: Michael Klein.

One posted: “These days, even liberals in China find the West’s ridiculous lies and defamation against China repulsive. I used to think they were from developed nations; at least they could show some dignity. But alas, how wrong I was.”

“All those foreigners who doubted your achievements now know just how fantastic you are. Your greatness needs no explanation!” read one comment.

Another said: “In the end, those who can’t bring you down just end up making you stronger. They’re only fit to trail in your wake!”

Other users discussed the memorable live commentary on the race by state broadcaster CCTV.

Zhao Jing — herself a former Olympic swimmer — repeatedly screamed Pan’s name into her microphone during the final length before exploding with elation as he clinched the record.

“Please don’t say nasty things ... People who aren’t in these circles basically can’t understand this kind of emotion,” wrote one Weibo user.

Another quipped: “This female commentator is all of us right now! (Pan) is so cool, so awesome, so amazing! And gorgeous too.”

With 10 more days of competition in Paris, the swimming is far from the only battleground where Chinese athletes will come under scrutiny, however, its swimming program will be the most controversial.

Mutual respect. Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP.

Global swimming was thrown into uproar in April when the New York Times reported that 23 Chinese swimmers had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine (TMZ) at a domestic competition in late 2020 and early 2021 ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.

Pan was not named in the report, and Chinese authorities said the positive tests were the result of food contamination — an explanation accepted by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA).

But US anti-doping authorities have angered their Chinese counterparts by accusing WADA of suppressing the facts of the case.

Pan was irritated when asked about the situation — and its continued impact on his public reputation outside his homeland — in his post-race press conference, saying he had been tested 29 times recently.

Chinese swimmers have said they have been tested for banned substances more than any other team in Paris, harming their preparation.

— with AFP