Dressel scorcher as China slams doping protests

GWANGJU: American Caeleb Dressel swam the second-fastest 100m freestyle in history to retain his world title Thursday as China lashed out at anti-doping protests targeting Olympic star Sun Yang.Dressel, 22, clocked a jaw-dropping 46.96 seconds in Gwangju, pipping Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers to win swimming’s blue riband event in swashbuckling style.Meanwhile, Australian Matt Wilson tied the men’s 200m breaststroke world record to underline his title credentials, before Australia set a new world mark in the women’s 4x200m free.The lightning-fast performances helped refocus attention on the pool after a week dominated by protests directed at China’s Sun, the triple Olympic champion who is accused of destroying blood samples after a visit from drug testers.China’s head coach Zhou Jijong called the actions against Sun, when Australia’s Mack Horton and Briton Duncan Scott both snubbed him on the podium, “harmful” and “prejudiced”.“It is unbelievable and unacceptable that some people publicly defiled the innocence of an elite athlete based on speculation and hearsay,” Zhou told Chinese media.In the day’s highlight race, Dressel exploded from the blocks to lead by a body-length at the turn and finished strong as he bagged his third gold of the week.“It hurt, it hurt really bad to be honest,” winced the tattooed American. “You don’t get that magical feeling every night -- you’ve just got to shut the brain off and go.”Dressel, who racked up seven world titles in Budapest two years ago, high-fived his Aussie rival Chalmers before perching himself on a lane rope to milk the crowd’s applause, raising a fist to flag-waving American fans.Chalmers touched in 47.08 with Russia’s Vladislav Grinev the best of the rest in 47.82. The world record of 46.91 was set by Brazilian Cesar Cielo in 2009.Elsewhere, Daiya Seto captured Japan’s first gold medal of the competition by sweeping to victory in the men’s 200m individual medley in 1:56.14.Wilson won his 200m breaststroke semi-final in 2:06.67 -- tying the world record held by Japan’s Ippei Watanabe.

from The News International - Sports https://ift.tt/32Ruud4