#6 Seed, 100 Backstroke Silver Medalist Xu Jiayu No-Shows 200 Backstroke Heat

2024 PARIS SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

There was a glaring absence in the men’s 200 backstroke as 100 backstroke silver medalist Xu Jiayu no-showed his prelims heat. The Chinese swimmer was originally slated to swim in heat 2, lane 5 as the #6 seed with an entry time of 1:55.37.

Earlier in the meet, Xu dropped a time of 52.32 to win a silver medal in the 100 backstroke, just .07 ahead of American Ryan Murphy (52.37). Italian Thomas Ceccon won the event with a 52.00. The performance for Xu marked his second Olympic silver medal in the event as he had previously finished second to Murphy at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio.

Xu’s absence is a glaring one for the Chinese team. With doping controversy following the team, they have greatly underperformed at this competition, especially when considering the results of the 2021 Olympic Games and 2023 World Championships. Xu’s 100 backstroke had been one of the best performances for the team through day 4 of racing.

It is important to note that Xu was not one of the 23 Chinese swimmers who tested postitve for the banned substance TMZ prior to the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo. Despite that, Xu did not shy away from speaking to the media about the topic following his 100 backstroke performance. In a post-race interview, Xu told Chinese media that the Chinese swimmers had always been doubted and had to “speak with results” instead.

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Emily
2 months ago

After all the events, we can surely say that Xu made a clever choice. He is the ONLY MALE BACKSTROKER in the Chinese team so he should protect himself from any possibility of fatigue, injury or Covid for both the prelims and the finals of the two medleys in the last two days. His rival, Ryan Murphy, on the other hand, only swam the finals. Finally, in the two finals, Murphy gained no advantage over Xu in the opening leg.

Happy Slappy
3 months ago

Couldn’t find clean urine in time.

1650 Onetrick
Reply to  Happy Slappy
3 months ago

The dislikes are warranted but this is just funny

Veganpotter
Reply to  Happy Slappy
3 months ago

Everyone else took up the available supply. Everyone there is on something😅

BingBopBam
3 months ago

So the #1 qualifier and the #6 seed are now out, in an already comparatively slow event, in a terribly slow pool.

I have a feeling this might be a Men’s 100BR-level event

Sapiens Ursus
Reply to  BingBopBam
3 months ago

Only like 8 people were getting eliminated per event this morning I would not read into the times at all

KSW
Reply to  BingBopBam
3 months ago

Kos will be 1:54

Luis
Reply to  BingBopBam
3 months ago

#1 qualifier is out? I don’t understand.

Aiden
Reply to  Luis
3 months ago

He got dqed for going too far underwater

greg17815
3 months ago

Covid/other illness most likely. Positive drug test would be huge news but unlikely.

Veganpotter
Reply to  greg17815
3 months ago

Some do internal drug tests. If they come up positive, they’ll sneak out to go unnoticed.

Stingy
3 months ago

Everyone’s getting sick

PFA
3 months ago

Fair play to Xu winning Olympic silver 8 years apart although he’s been fairly inconsistent for quite sometime after 2019 until last year, he came ready to go here gotta give that to him. Not sure what happened with the 2 back but maybe he doesn’t want to take any chances for the medley relays for China.

Tencor
Reply to  PFA
3 months ago

Rumor is that he’s a bit sick and he’s also hinted at that during interviews. Probably wants to medal in the medley relays and don’t want to take any chances.

Swimdad
3 months ago

The NYT is on it. Awaiting results in 2yrs.

Vince
Reply to  Swimdad
3 months ago

Haha yes

zaj
3 months ago

He wants to concentrate more on mixed and medley relays which China is the favourite for gold medal.

I miss the ISL (go dawgs)
Reply to  zaj
3 months ago

China is no longer the favorite in anything.

Sapiens Ursus
Reply to  I miss the ISL (go dawgs)
3 months ago

Pan’s the clear favorite in the 100 free

Barty’s Bakery
Reply to  zaj
3 months ago

Being the favourite relied on a 57 form Qin Haiyang and he is nowhere near that

Vince
Reply to  Barty’s Bakery
3 months ago

This olympic is really very competitive and the pool is very slow for some reason. A lot of players have underperformed. Australia is the biggest and strongest at the moment while the U.S is the biggest underperformer at the moment. People expected the U.S to dominate again and have the most gold medal by now but the aussies, Canada and other strong swimming nations really ramped up their performance. Really loving Summer Mcintosh.

Johnstuarthughes
Reply to  Vince
3 months ago

Pool is a bit shallow and seems wavy.

About Nicole Miller

Nicole Miller

Nicole has been with SwimSwam since April 2020, as both a reporter and social media contributor. Prior to joining the SwimSwam platform, Nicole also managed a successful Instagram platform, amassing over 20,000 followers. Currently, Nicole is pursuing her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute. After competing for the swim …

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