Defeated Friday in the 200m backstroke final by Russian Evgeny Rylov, American Ryan Murphy suggested that the latter was doped, provoking the ire of the Russian authorities.
American Ryan Murphy finished second in the 200m backstroke final on Friday, behind Russian Evgeny Rylov, who won the 100m backstroke. Murphy, author of the same 100m and 200m double at the Rio Olympics in 2016, let his «frustration» after his defeat, by evoking a “Race which is probably not clean”. A thinly veiled allusion to the institutionalized doping scandal in Russia that erupted a few years ago. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended the country at the end of 2020 from international competitions for two years while letting its athletes compete under the neutral banner of the “Russian Olympic Committee” (ROC). This decision was considered by some to be much more lenient than the sanctions initially proposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The Russian Olympic Committee quickly retaliated by defending its swimmer. “This is how disconcerting our victories are for some of our colleagues”, he launched on Twitter, ironically denouncing the “Tirade on Russian doping that is heard again” and the “English-speaking propaganda emitting a verbal sweat in the heat of Tokyo from the mouths of athletes offended by defeats.” “Yes, we are here at the Olympics, we have the right. Whether you like it or not, continues the ROC. You have to learn to lose. We will not console you. ”
The head of the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada) Mikhail Bukhanov, for his part, explained to the Russian news agency Ria Novosti that Evgeny Rylov had been “Tested three times in 2021”, specifying that it was also tested by the International Swimming Federation. Evgeny Rylov meanwhile calmed things down, revealing on Instagram that he chatted with Ryan Murphy after the press conference and made sure the American swimmer’s comments fell within the “misunderstanding”. “We are both supporters of clean sport”, he wrote.
Hours later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also reacted: “Our athletes have to win medals – preferably gold – and not pay attention to all that. The medalists are above criticism. ” Even the bell rang on the side of the Foreign Ministry, which hailed it “The incredible dignity of the representatives [de la Russie, ndlr] in the face of the challenges they face in Tokyo. And I’m not just talking about sports. But also of these endless provocations ”, commented the spokesperson of the ministry, Maria Zakharova.
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