Pan Zhanle’s world record of 46.40 seconds is more than 1 second behind the second place, and the shallow depth of the water makes the poor record seem insignificant. The Chinese swimming community was criticized for doping suspicions, but the new record set an opportunity for a reversal.
China’s Pan Zhanle (second from right) is the first to touch the touchpad during the men’s 100m freestyle final held at the La Defense swimming pool in Paris, France on the 1st.
The 2024 Paris Olympics, which suffered from a ‘swimming record drought’, finally received some much-needed rain.
Pan Zhanle (China, 19) set the first world record in swimming at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the men’s 100m freestyle. With Pan Zhanle crowned champion, the 92-year-long streak of ‘no gold medals’ in this event was also broken.
The new record was set on the 1st at the La Defense Swimming Pool in Paris, France. Pan Zhanle won the gold medal in the men’s 100m freestyle final with a world record of 46.40 seconds. Leading the race from the beginning, he showed overwhelming skill by opening a 1.08-second gap over second-place Kyle Chalmers (Australia) in this event where the outcome is determined by a 0.1-second difference. It has been 96 years since the 1928 Amsterdam Games that the first and second places were separated by more than 1 second in the Olympics.
Pan Zhanle’s record that day was 0.4 seconds faster than her previous record (46.80 seconds) set at the Doha World Championships in February this year. It was enough to make the previous evaluation that the record was poor due to the shallow water depth of this stadium seem meaningless. The water depth of the La Defense swimming pool is 0.85m lower than the World Aquatics Federation recommended (3m). It is known that the shallower the water depth, the greater the resistance from the current experienced by the athlete.
Pan Zhanle became the first Asian gold medalist in this event since Yatsuji Miyazaki (Japan) in 1932. She pioneered the 100m freestyle swimming event, which was considered a “medal wasteland” for Asians. There has also been no gold medal in the Olympic women’s 100m freestyle since Lu Jing of China won first place at the 1996 Atlanta Games.
It was also an achievement that turned the mood around at a time when Chinese swimming was viewed negatively due to ‘doping suspicions’. The trigger was the Australian newspaper Herald Sun, which reported just before the competition that “23 Chinese swimming team members tested positive in doping tests seven months before the opening of the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, but participated in the competition,” and that “the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) failed to make a fair judgment on the Chinese swimming doping issue.” Some Chinese athletes, including Gao Min, also expressed their discontent, saying, “The routine of seven doping tests a day successfully hindered our Chinese swimming team.”
Pan Zhanle was not included in the list of 23 people suspected of doping. In an interview with foreign media outlets such as Reuters, Pan Zhanle said, “All (doping) tests were conducted according to normal procedures,” and “(psychologically) there were no major problems.” He continued, “It’s truly a magical moment. This record is not just for China, but for swimming around the world.” 안전놀이터
