The 2024 Paris Olympics, apart from being the spectacle of the year, also penned down many controversies. And perhaps the world of swimming saw the most riveting one of them all. The rivalry between two swimming legends, Kyle Chalmers and Pan Zhanle. The two competed against each other in the 100m freestyle final. Pan went on to win gold, while Chalmers finished right behind him to come in second. As the world sang the songs of pride, things took a sour turn in Paris.

Soon after the race, Pan went to accuse Chalmers of giving him the cold shoulder! Pan was seen saying, “After the 4×100 free relay, I went to say hi to Kyle, and he ignored me.” Oops! That was enough to oil the wheels of controversy and start the spirals of speculation. The seemingly small issue turned into a major fallout that the world couldn’t stop talking about. Time has passed since the Olympics, and Kyle has finally come out to speak about the controversy.

Kyle Chalmers reacts to the controversy of cold shoulders while staying focused!

The controversy was no small one either. Kyle Chalmers found himself facing a barrage of criticism. And the criticism was unfortunately not just about the perceived disrespect but also about the online circus that followed. The fallout was so bad that it even caught up to Kyle’s family, who received an avalanche of death threats from Pan’s fans. Talking about the same to Adelaide Now, Kyle said, “It was very stressful in that period, getting heaps of death threats come through and pretty horrendous messages.”

The tension reached its saturation point when Kyle saw that the hostility from the Pan fandom was affecting his fiance and family. But despite the weight of controversies hanging on Kyle’s shoulders, he remains focused and ready to make his next stroke. So much so that after three Olympic seasons, Kyle is scripting his story for yet another season! “I desperately want to make LA, but I’m not going to be the best 100 freestyler in Australia forever,” he said. But why so? Well, the primary reason is, of course, the age factor. But the second is the limitations that the human body poses.

As Kyle himself puts it, “It’s just whether my body holds up until then.” While the body remains a big factor to consider, what about the mind? “My mind definitely will… It would be amazing to go to a home Olympics, but I’m definitely a realist in the fact that I know there’s younger guys coming through in the sport who are going to beat me one day, and I know that my body is going to give out inevitably at some point also,” he added. It seems like Kyle Chalmers is more than ready to face whatever tribulations his future holds. While the plans for the future remain intact, where does the animosity with Pan stand?

A controversy of all smoke and no fire?

Since the controversy turned to family, Kyle Chalmers has tried to diffuse the situation. “I don’t think there was any animosity ever,” says Kyles. He even went on to back it up, saying, “I spoke to him in the marshaling room before the race. After the race, I went straight over and shook his hand in the pool. On the podium, he shook his hand, and we had a great conversation before we started that cooldown.” Kyle’s words definitely make it sound like there was a camaraderie between Pan and him that was unfortunately lost in translation and winning chaos.

Despite the unfortunate brutalities of the controversy, Kyle has decided to extend an olive branch to Pan. He went on to say, “I feel like there was none (animosity) from my point of view.” So there you have it, folks, the details behind the teapot of controversy that is still boiling. However, clearing his position and unbothered by the heat, Kyle Chalmers is moving ahead. One stroke at a time.