"Felt that they were looking down on us"- Chinese swimmer Pan Zhanle speaks on his interaction with US swimmers as he wins gold at Paris Olympics

Pan Zhanle of China surprised many as he won a historic Olympic gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle race at the Paris Olympics, breaking his own world record by 0.4 seconds as he clocked 46.40 seconds to win the race.

Kyle Chalmers of Australia took home the silver with a time of 47.48 seconds while David Popovici received a bronze medal with a time of 47.49 seconds in the same event. Jack Alexy and Chris Guiliano from USA finished in the last two positions in the finals, with timings of 47.96 seconds and 47.98 seconds, respectively.

However, Pan Zhanle wasn't too happy about his win, revealing to China Central Television that swimmers from USA and Australia snubbed his team while stating his performance was the apt reply.

The Chinese athlete told the media that swimmers like Kyle Chalmers from Australia and Jack Alexy from USA ignored him and the Chinese team during the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. As per his statement to the media:

"When we were doing the 4x100m relay on Day 1, after the race, I said hi to Chalmers. He completely ignored me." [Translated via @SwimNerds on X]

Pan Zhanle also revealed how the USA swimmers had mocked their coach. As per his statement:

"Alexy of Team USA, too! When we were practicing, our coach was at the side. With one turn, he [Alexy] splashed water directly on our coach. So it kind of felt like they were looking down on us, can I say that?" [Translated via @SwimNerds on X]

Despite these jibes, the Chinese team stood first in the qualifications, with a qualification time of 3 minutes and 11.62 seconds. In fact, Pan Zhanle created a new Olympic record in the finals, with a split timing of 46.92 seconds.

However, his individual efforts were not enough and China finished fourth overall in the relay finals.

Kyle Chalmers's response to Pan Zhanle's allegations

Kyle Chambers [L] congratulating Pan Zhanle after his win in men's 100m freestyle at the Paris Olympics 2024

While the American team has refused to comment on the allegations posed by Pan Zhanle, Kyle Chalmers came out with his version. He found the allegations strange since Pan Zhanle considered Chalmers his idol.

Kyle Chalmers told the media:

"I look at him the same as every competitor. I want to be the very best no matter what and I want to beat everyone, no matter the question marks or eyebrows raised. I find it a bit weird, I gave him [Zhanle] a fist pump before the relays. We had a laugh together at the warm down last night - but no issues from my end." [via Swimming Australia's press brief]

The Australian coach Brett Hawke has denied the charges, accusing Pan Zhenle of cheating in an Instagram post. Meanwhile, Kyle Chalmers is gearing up for the men's 4x100m medley relay, which will take place on August 3.