Breaking records almost feels like second nature for Pan Zhanle. The 20-year-old walked into the French capital, boasting a 100m freestyle world record of 46.80s set at the World Champions in Doha. It didn’t take him too long to shatter it inside La Défense Arena. He left the swimming community in awe by touching the wall in 46.40s in the 100m freestyle. But wait! It gets better. This was also the first swimming record at the 2024 Paris Olympics. 

As exciting as that win was, things took a dark turn when many began questioning the legitimacy of his accomplishments. In fact, the doping allegations followed him well after the dust settled on the Games. However, undeterred, the Olympian continues to make a splash in the pool. This time, he’s shocked the world by shattering yet another record at the 2024 World Aquatics Swimming World Cup. On day 3 of the second stop of the competition, the swimmer showed Incheon he was not just a sprinter.

Pan Zhanle locked horns with a stacked lineup in the 800m freestyle final. Settled in lane 8, the swimmer’s competitor was Kim Junwoo. The 17-year-old wanted to clinch the gold on his home turf. Throughout the race, the duo battled it out for the prize. That is until the Olympian passed him at the 575m mark. His splits remained consistent at 14-mids for most of the race, but the 20-year-old pulled off a blistering 25.80 split toward the end, touching the wall in 7:35.30. With this, the swimmer had set a World Cup record in the event.

Even though he fought hard, Junwoo eventually had to settle for a second-place finish with 7:39.15. Things looked just as exciting for the final step of the podium. Toward the middle of the race, Charlie Clark started gaining on the duo. However, Kazushi Imafuku’s 26.17 split in the final 50 snagged him the final step. He touched the wall at 7:40.77, while Clark came in fourth with 7:42.42 on the clock. This wasn’t the only time the Zhanle proved his mettle in the middle-distance circuit.

After the conclusion of the first leg of the World Cup in Shanghai, the Olympian hadn’t even made it into the top 6. But he wanted to change that on the first day of competitions at Incheon. Pan Zhanle only had 1 event on October 24—the men’s 400m freestyle. Even though the swimmer started with distance events when he was younger, returning to it amid a stacked lineup could be daunting. The Olympian started strong, staying well under the 1:47 point till the 200m mark.

Things looked grim when he kept losing ground throughout the race. In the final 25m, he snagged the lead with a blistering split of 12.31s. With his hand on the wall at 3:36.43, the Olympian snagged some shiny gold. He beat Shanghai’s champion, Duncan Scott, who settled for a second-place finish with 3:37.04. Kieran Smith completed the podium 0.11s behind with 3:37.15 on the clock. However, what are the doping allegations that continue to haunt Pan Zhanle?

Pan Zhanle’s performances speak for themselves

The 20-year-old surprised everyone by clinching an Olympic gold in the 100m freestyle event. While fans couldn’t help but gush over this feat, it also brought up a doping scandal from months before the Games. It was revealed that during the Tokyo Olympics, 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for prohibited substances. Upon investigation, the World Anti-Doping Agency soon revealed that this could have been due to contamination from the hotel kitchen.

Even though many didn’t believe this, a comprehensive review by World Aquatics confirmed that WADA hadn’t mismanaged the investigation. While Pan Zhanle wasn’t mentioned in the list, many joined the dots, claiming his record could have been due to that. Australian coach Brett Hawke was one of them. “That’s not real… That’s not humanly possible.” But the 20-year-old was not amused, promptly shutting the accusation down.

In an interview with Chinese media, the Olympian stated, “It would be great if he said it a few more times to mislead Westerners.” As brash as this response may seem, the swimmer had good reason to react that way. In fact, he’s constantly confessed how, after being closely monitored, he has never failed a doping test. “Last year I received 29 tests and never had a positive.” 

Pan Zhanle reveals that he had an additional 21 tests done between May and July this year, and the results didn’t change. “Today we received a second test already. I don’t think there has been any impact (on me) because all the testing has been done in normal procedure… So it’s not a big issue,” he confessed. All the hostility has helped motivate the swimmer, and with his World Cup record on the last day at Incheon, he’s definitely ready to prove all the naysayers wrong.