Pan Zhanle shared the reason why victory tasted a little sweeter for him after breaking his own world record in the men’s 100 freestyle with a winning time of 46.40 on Wednesday — more than a second ahead of the field.

The 19-year-old Chinese star told CCTV that he felt snubbed by Australia’s Kyle Chalmers and American sprinter Jack Alexy during the 4×100 free relay on Saturday, when he broke the Olympic record in the final with his 46.92 leadoff. Pan said he was ignored while trying to say hello to Chalmers, and also that Alexy splashed water on their coach during warmups.

“After the 4×100 free relay, I went to say hi to Kyle [Chalmers] and he ignored me,” Pan said, translated from Chinese. “And while we were training, Jack Alexy splashed our coaches on the side of the pool with water while he was doing a flip turn. I felt that they looked down upon us, can I say this? And today I finally beat them all.”

Chalmers ultimately took the silver medal in 47.48 while Alexy placed 7th in 47.96. Pan’s post-race comments are interesting because he didn’t seem to harbor any hard feelings toward Chalmers during Tuesday’s semifinals.

“Pan, the Chinese boy, straight before we walked out said: ‘You’re my idol and I love, love, love watching you,’” Chalmers said on Tuesday night.

Pan was not one of the 23 Chinese swimmers who went unpunished despite testing positive for a banned substance in January of 2021, seven months before the Tokyo Olympics. With heightened media coverage surrounding a potential Chinese doping controversy, Chinese swimmers were tested almost 200 times during their first 10 days in Paris. Breaststroke world record holder Qin Haiyang said it disrupted his sleep schedule, but Pan said he was unfazed by increased testing in Paris.

“This was standard,” Pan said. “The tests were done under all the regulations. I don’t htink it influenced my performance.”

Both Chalmers and bronze medalist David Popovici were both asked whether they thought the race was fair in light of recent Chinese doping concerns.

“I do everything I possibly can to win the race,” Chalmers said. “And I trust that everyone’s doing the same as I am and staying true to sport and the integrity of sport. So yeah, I trust that he’s doing everything he possibly can to be there, and he deserves that gold medal, and I did everything I possibly could to challenge for that gold medal and be on the top podium.”

“Everyone is innocent until proven guilty,” Popovici said.

MEN’S 100 FREESTYLE – FINAL

1. Pan Zhanle (China) – 46.40 (WORLD RECORD)
2. Kyle Chalmers (Australia) – 47.48
3. David Popovici (Romania) – 47.49
4. Nandor Nemeth (Hungary) – 47.50
5. Maxime Grousset (France) – 47.71
6. Josha Salchow (Germany) – 47.80
7. Jack Alexy (United States) – 47.96
8. Chris Guiliano (United States) – 47.98