Olympics 2024: Kyle Chalmers fallout takes curious new turn in Paris as act from Chinese rival emerges

Aussie swimming superstar Kyle Chalmers has revealed details of a lovely gesture from Chinese rival Pan Zhanle as the pair look to put a “weird” Olympic Games controversy behind them. Chalmers said he found it strange that Pan accused the Aussie of snubbing him at the pool in Paris, with the Chinese swimmer describing it as disrespectful and sparking a storm back in his homeland.

Chalmers has become public enemy No.1 in China after video of Pan’s comments went viral on China’s social media platform Weibo – which boats more than 605 million users. But the Aussie has maintained he never showed any disrespect towards his Chinese rival and can’t understand why the furore erupted in the first place.

The Aussie – who won silver behind Pan after the Chinese teen smashed the world record in the 100m freestyle final – says he and Pan have met for peace talks in the wake of the controversy. And Chalmers even revealed that Pan has offered to show the Aussie around Shanghai when they swim at a world cup meet in the Chinese city next year.

“I don’t think there was any animosity ever,” Chalmers said in Paris on Saturday. “From my point of view, I spoke to him in the marshalling room before the race. After the race, I went straight over, shook his hand in the pool; on the podium, shook his hand.

“And then we had a great conversation before we started that cool down, just in regards to how great the race was and the Shanghai world cup. And again, he just said about me being his idol and how much of an honour it was for him to swim against me and he never thought that was possible. All of our conversations we’ve ever had have been positive, from the world championships last year through this year.”

Chalmers revealed that he’d received “a huge amount of grief which is obviously very challenging to deal with mentally”. The revelation comes after several hashtags containing the Aussies name went viral on social media as Chinese fans hit out against Chalmers and American swimmer Jack Alexy, who was also accused of disrespecting the Chinese swimmer and his team.

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“It’s very hard, we both obviously don’t speak the same language … so it’s quite hard to talk,” Chalmers added. “But again, from my point of view, I don’t have any issues. His race was amazing the other night. And I’m honoured to be in the fastest race that has ever been swum in the 100 freestyle in history, it’s an incredible feat.” Pan set a world record time of 46.40 seconds, slicing 0.4 seconds from his previous global benchmark set at the world championships in January.

Kyle Chalmers relishing rivalry with Pan Zhanle

Following his silver medal in Paris, Chalmers says he’s keen to have another crack at Pan in the pool and extend their growing rivalry. And the Aussie maintains he will continue to treat the Chinese superstar the same way he would with any other rival.

“I know that I have done everything I possibly can to be respectful, like I am to every one of my competitors and I have been over the years,” he added. “I have had some amazing relationships with guys that I’ve raced against and race with, and I think this will be no different.

“I really look forward to progressing our relationship and challenging each other and having some amazing battles in the pool over the years. It’s one-all now. Last year we raced at the world championships and I got the better of him but this year he got the better of me. So I look forward to taking it to round three next year.”

Pan’s world record swim in the 100m freestyle came in a Paris pool that has been widely criticised for being slower than usual. But Pan’s feat has been overshadowed somewhat by the fact 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive to a banned substance before the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, but were still allowed to compete. World anti-doping authorities accepted China’s explanation that the swimmers had eaten contaminated food at a team hotel. Pan was not among those athletes.

with AAP