‘What about Ledecky?’ – Zhang Yufei hits out at doping questions aimed at Chinese swimmers

Zhang also explained she had been struggling with fever and it was the first day of her period, but said: ‘I would rather die in the pool’

Zhang Yufei hit back at questions surrounding doping after earning a bronze medal in the women’s 200 metres butterfly at the Paris Olympics.

Less than 24 hours earlier, fellow Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle had been accused of achieving a world record “not humanly possibly” by the coach of silver medallist in the race Kyle Chalmers.

Zhang, 26, queried why no Westerners who achieved world-record times in the pool are interrogated in a similar fashion.

“Why are Chinese athletes questioned when they swim fast, but no one dares to question [Michael] Phelps or [Katie] Ledecky previously?” the 26-year-old said in a press briefing in Paris on Friday. “I don’t think the doping incident will have any serious impact on us because we are innocent.”

Doping has been a hot topic surrounding Chinese athletes given the revelation earlier this year that 23 swimmers had failed tests before the Tokyo Olympic, but were cleared by the World Anti-Doping Association to compete.

Zhang Yufei told journalists after the race she had been struggling with fever and was not at her best condition. Photo: Reuters

And Zhang’s defiant reply garnered plenty of support on Chinese social media.

The topic “Zhang Yufei’s rebuttal to foreign journalists” gained more than 35.76 million views on Weibo.

“Her counterarguments are very clear. Foreign journalists have been targeting China, which reveals their hegemonic attitude. They [the Westerners] feel their strengths are being challenged, so they resort to such lowly methods to retaliate,” one user commented.

“This question itself is a serious discrimination,” another person said. “The [Chinese] delegation should lodge a formal protest with the media! Who says swimming competitions are the exclusive domain of white people?

“The effort is not determined by skin colour. This journalist should ask their own athletes: are you working hard enough?”

Zhang also revealed ahead of her bronze-medal swim that she had been feeling unwell and not in her best physical condition.

“I just recovered from a fever yesterday, and today, on the first day of my period, my whole right side feels numb,” she told reporters. “I did not expect to swim so fast as I didn’t have the usual warm-up – I probably only swam 1,000 metres.

“To put it plainly, I’d rather die in the pool.”