Adam Peaty After China’s Relay Win, “There’s No Point Winning If You’re Not Winning Fair”

World Record holder and 2024 Paris silver medalist in the 100 breaststroke Adam Peaty spoke after a 4th place finish by the Great Britain men’s 4×100 medley relay to conclude the meet. Peaty questioned the win by China as the Chinese men’s medley relay won gold. Two of the men on the relay for China tested positive for TMZ at the start of 2021, just months before the Tokyo Olympics.

“If you touch and you know that you’re cheating, you’re not winning, right?,” Peaty said. “I don’t want to paint a whole nation or group of people with one brush, I think that’s very unfair,” he continued. “To the people that need to do their job – wake up and do your job.”

The 23 swimmers from China were not suspended at any point as contamination was said to be the source of the TMZ. Peaty raced the breaststroke leg for Great Britain, swimming alongside Qin Haiyang who was one of the 23 who tested positive.

 “One of my favorite quotes I’ve seen lately is that there’s no point winning if you’re not winning fair,” Peaty said. “I think you know that truth in your heart. For me, if you’ve been on that and you have been contaminated twice, I think as an honorable person you should be out of the sport. But we know sport isn’t that simple.”

Michael Phelps was also vocal at the end of the meet saying, “I believe one and done.” Phelps also spoke about athletes such as Peaty and the whole men’s 4×100 medley relay for Great Britain as they finished just off the podium.

“It does break my heart to see people put hard effort into four straight years to prepare for an Olympic Games, then to have it taken away from them by somebody who is cheating,” Phelps said. “It’s not right. I stand for that and I will always stand for that.”

Peaty tested positive for COVID-19 in the middle of competition in Paris, just hours after winning silver in the men’s 100 breast. At the end of the week, he also said he will be stepping away from swimming.

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Samurai Swimmer
1 day ago

There has always been a different set of standards for China vs the rest of the swimming world. Until rules are applied equally , with their multi-decade history of cheating, they will always be suspect. WADA is pathetic.

Marty
2 days ago

“If you aren’t cheating, you aren’t trying.”
Signed,
Rosie Ruiz
Bill Belichick
Tom Brady
Lance Armstrong
Mark McGwire
Sammy Sosa
Barry Bonds
Roger Clemens
The Houston Astros

Sue
2 days ago

Right, if we cannot beat the Chinese, let’s ban them instead. What a bunch of sore losers.

MattW
3 days ago

Once bitten, twice shy. Echoes of Barcelona ’92.

Jake
Reply to  MattW
3 days ago

2000 to 2024, is the more recent history. I have not seen even a single Chinese swimmer that lost a single medal because of doping during past 2 decades.

If you have to go way back well before any of those swimmers were even born. Then you lost the plot.

Last edited 3 days ago by Jake
sasdf
3 days ago

people might forget how another Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen was treated in 2012 London. She won 2 gold medals and was immediately accsued for doping with no evidences. Funny that she was never tested positve and just swam in Paris. Don’t tell me there’s no arrogance and racism here.
https://slate.com/culture/2012/08/ye-shiwen-doping-the-unfair-smear-campaign-against-the-chinese-swimming-sensation.html

Tamale Nash
Reply to  sasdf
3 days ago

Oh, there was evidence…there always is. But, 2012 was a different world when burying the evidence was required. Today, you can test positive, and the corrupt, woke, left-wing, West-hating, co-dependent sewage who can’t accomplish ANY-thing without cheating, stealing patents, or at some point against pillaging (probably against Taiwan). China playing the victim card after how that country’s behaved the past 10yrs MINIMUM, is like Hitler talking about how unfair the world was to him, when all he did was play around with a little Zyklon B from time to time. I hope I’m alive long enough to see the West go to war with China, they can see just how co-dependent they are to exist in any capacity.

sasdf
Reply to  Tamale Nash
2 days ago

LMAO thank you for being the arrogant jerk I was referring to. you just confirmed my point.

Adam Pee-tea
Reply to  Tamale Nash
2 days ago

MAGA nutjob spotted 🤡

Binlop
Reply to  sasdf
3 days ago

What happened to Ye Shiwen was absolutely wrong. However, doesn’t really matter for what Peaty is saying as some of the athletes in the men’s relay do have a history of some kind, so it’s not an apples to apples comparison.

sasdf
Reply to  Binlop
2 days ago

Peaty got his point I agree. but speaking of history…um… there’s also a history of bias against non-western swimmers. Pan was also subject to baseless attacks and he’s clean

Bkkang
Reply to  sasdf
2 days ago

Peaty is TUE exempted and not qualified or morally fit to stand for fair competition.

Frederick Cole
3 days ago

Here’s the thing though: you can even tell by Pan Zhanle’s demeanor that he’s verified clean, whereas you see the way some other Chinese swimmers behave very haughtily and selfish (Sun Yang is a classic example) because they know at the end of the day that they’re gonna be busted. Now, when you go and look at the list of the 23 Chinese who were busted as well, you’ll see that Pan was not one of them, and again, you can tell by his much more humble demeanor.

Anzlo
3 days ago

Nice write up here about the background and historical doping program in China, provides some useful context –

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/apr/27/poison-in-the-pool-why-the-latest-chinese-doping-row-is-proving-so-toxic

Note the strategy from back then was to cry hypocrisy and sinophobia, the same approach which is rampant across these swimswam comments and indeed in places like Reddit.

Last edited 3 days ago by Anzlo
Stingy
Reply to  Anzlo
3 days ago

I don’t see how the other side’s “strategy” is much better, it’s literally just to call everyone who disagrees with them Chinese “bots”.

Like I’m a real person lmfao, cope harder?

Anzlo
Reply to  Stingy
3 days ago

Note I never said bots. I said cries of hypocrisy and racism. Which if you look is exactly what numerous comments are doing.

All doping is bad and going westerners are just is bad does not excuse what has gone on in China and Russia which have seriously damaged our sport.

Please engage with the actual issues instead of crying about being called a bot. Which btw people only do due to the very real online astroturfing campaigns.

USA
3 days ago

China cheated.

(If you’re a real person don’t respond to this. Trying to catch bots.)

American bot
Reply to  USA
3 days ago

Hi fellow have you forgotten the rule that you can’t be in front of human beings?

About Anya Pelshaw

Anya Pelshaw

Anya has been with SwimSwam since June 2021 as both a writer and social media coordinator. She was in attendance at the 2022, 2023, and 2024 Women's NCAA Championships writing and doing social media for SwimSwam. She also attended 2023 US Summer Nationals as well as the 2024 European Championships …

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