--- description: America's tainted history in track and field should quiet the U.S. vs. Russia feud that erupted in the Olympic pool title: Team USA Swimming Fights Russian Doping. Can Track Do Same? image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80ee9ba852ccb22/6988a1e6fb4eac5eec88eb38/lily-king.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Sports](/section/sports/) ## Sports Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Team USA Is About to Be Kicked Off its Doping High Horse in Rio  by [Sean Gregory / Rio de Janeiro](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory / Rio de Janeiro Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Aug 14, 2016 1:13 AM CUT  Lilly King of the United States celebrates as Yulia Efimova of Russia looks on during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, on Aug. 8, 2016. Lilly King of the United States celebrates as Yulia Efimova of Russia looks on during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, on Aug. 8, 2016.Clive Rose—Getty Images  by [Sean Gregory / Rio de Janeiro](/author/sean-gregory/)  ## Sean Gregory / Rio de Janeiro Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Aug 14, 2016 1:13 AM CUT In addition to [shattering world records](http://time.com/4451155/michael-phelps-katie-ledecky-gold-rio-2016-olympics-swimming-maya-dirado-hosszu-schooling/ "undefined") and [breaking down barriers](http://time.com/4449687/simone-manuel-gold-rio-2016-olympics-swimming/ "undefined"), the swimmers at the [Rio Olympics](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/ "undefined") have managed another feat of sorts: reigniting international sport’s Cold War. On the self-proclaimed forces of good: swimmers from Western nations who broke unwritten Olympic etiquette by speaking out against competitors they deemed “drug cheats.” The villains were swimmers from Russia and China who had been reinstated after serving suspensions for performance-enhancing drugs. The flames had been fanned before the [Games](http://time.com/topic/2016-rio-olympics/ "undefined"), when an [investigation found in July](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/18/sports/olympics/world-antidoping-agency-russian-doping-inquiry.html "undefined") that Russia [engaged in a wide-ranging state-sponsored conspiracy](http://time.com/4421019/russia-olympic-doping-report/ "undefined") to deceive anti-doping officials during the Sochi Olympics. Many athletes and anti-doping officials called for all Russian athletes to be banned from Rio as punishment. Instead, the International Olympic Committee left it up to each global sports federation to make its own call. In all, 278 of the 389 Russian athletes set to compete in Rio were cleared. **Read More:** [_The Must-Watch Track and Field Events in Rio_](http://time.com/4434475/rio-2016-olympics-track-athletics-schedule-bolt-what-to-watch/ "undefined") One of them was Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova, who had served a 16-month ban for doping. After Efimova competed in the 100-m breaststroke semifinals, she waved a “No. 1” finger in the air––mimicking American Lilly King, who did it after an earlier swim in the event. King was [not pleased](https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/olympics/in-villifying-russian-swimmer-yulia-efimova-americans-are-splashing-murky-waters/2016/08/10/0ccdba8a-5eef-11e6-8e45-477372e89d78%5Fstory.html?postshare=7911470877378216&tid=ss%5Ftw-bottom "undefined"). “You wave your finger No. 1, and you’ve been caught drug cheating?” King said on NBC after her semifinal. “I’m not a fan.” King then [won gold over Efimova](http://time.com/4444442/2016-rio-olympics-swimming-rookies/ "undefined") the next night, and [barely concealed her disgust](http://time.com/4444555/lilly-king-olympic-games-doping-ban/ "undefined") afterwards. “It just proves that you can compete clean and still come out on top with all the work you put in,” King said. Her stand followed that of Australian swimmer Mack Horton, who beat China’s Sun Yang to win gold in the 400-m freestyle on Aug. 6 and called Sun, who served a three-month ban for testing positive for a banned stimulant in 2014, a [“drug cheat.”](http://time.com/4446058/rio-2016-swimming-sun-yang-drug-cheat-china/ "undefined") After the race, Horton said his win was one “for the good guys.” Their strong words were supported by other swimmers, including [Michael Phelps](http://time.com/4446971/rio-2016-olympics-michael-phelps-gold-medals/ "undefined"), and applauded by many fans and commentators. But it’s about to become far more difficult for the U.S. to cling to its perch atop the moral high ground. [American swimmers](http://time.com/4447445/why-olympic-swimmers-win-the-most-medals/ "undefined") and gymnasts have rarely been caught up in cheating scandals, and the current teams in these sports, according the drug testers, are squeaky clean. The same, however, can’t be said for the U.S. in track and field, which is [soon to take center stage](http://time.com/4434475/rio-2016-olympics-track-athletics-schedule-bolt-what-to-watch/ "undefined") in Rio. The recent past isn’t filled with “good guys,” as it were: the early 2000s ensnared many of America’s biggest names in the sport, including Marion Jones, a star at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, who admitted to using steroids and was stripped of her medals. Tim Montgomery’s 100-m world record, set in 2002, was stripped. And [the current team in Rio](http://time.com/4434475/rio-2016-olympics-track-athletics-schedule-bolt-what-to-watch/ "undefined") includes athletes who’ve been suspended for doping. [Justin Gatlin](http://time.com/4428016/justin-gatlin-track-and-field-usa/ "undefined"), America’s fastest man at the 2016 Olympics, tested positive for performance-enhancing drug use in 2006, and served a four-year ban. Tyson Gay, a member of the U.S. 4 X 100 relay roster in Rio, tested positive for an anabolic steroid in 2013, costing the entire U.S. 4 X 100 relay team at the London Olympics their silver medals. **Read More:** [_Justin Gatlin Has A Final Chance at Redemption_](http://time.com/4428016/justin-gatlin-track-and-field-usa/ "undefined") King herself said [Gatlin and Gay shouldn’t be in Rio](http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/olympics/rio-2016/2016/08/09/lilly-king-justin-gatlin-tyson-gay-cheats-doping/88440216/ "undefined"). “Do I think people who have been caught doping should be on the team?” King said. “They shouldn’t. It is unfortunate we have to see that.” Russia is far virtuous here, either. Track’s global governing body banned [all but one](https://rbth.com/news/2016/07/24/only-one-russian-track-and-field-athlete-allowed-to-rio%5F614653 "undefined") Russian track athlete from Rio after a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency found rampant performance-enhancing drug use on the team. And on Saturday that lone holdout, long jumper Darya Klishina, was [also suspended](http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-rio-russia-klishina-idUSKCN10O0QV "undefined"). Even Gatlin – who denies that he’s ever knowingly taken a banned substance, and insists he’s currently clean – realizes he can’t criticize the Russians like the swimmers have. “I guess I don’t have much of a soap box to stand on when it comes to situations like this,” he said during a [June interview with TIME](http://time.com/4428016/justin-gatlin-track-and-field-usa/ "undefined"), after being asked about the blanket ban on Russia’s Olympic track team. Americans may stack up medals on the track in Rio, but they’ll have to table their righteousness on that podium. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4446989/rio-2016-olympics-doping-efimova-gatlin-lilly-king-drug-cheat/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4446989/rio-2016-olympics-doping-efimova-gatlin-lilly-king-drug-cheat/"},"headline":"Team USA Is About to Be Kicked Off its Doping High Horse in Rio","datePublished":"2016-08-14T01:13:45.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:53:44.970Z","description":"America's tainted history on the track muddies the good guys storyline","url":"https://time.com/4446989/rio-2016-olympics-doping-efimova-gatlin-lilly-king-drug-cheat/","keywords":["Vladimir Putin","Michael Phelps","Summer Olympics","2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80ee9ba852ccb22/6988a1e6fb4eac5eec88eb38/lily-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Sean Gregory / Rio de Janeiro"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta80ee9ba852ccb22/6988a1e6fb4eac5eec88eb38/lily-king.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Swimming - Olympics: Day 3","caption":"Swimming - Olympics: Day 3","creditText":"Clive Rose—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4446989/rio-2016-olympics-doping-efimova-gatlin-lilly-king-drug-cheat/","name":"Team USA Is About to Be Kicked Off its Doping High Horse in Rio"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Usain Bolt Says Olympic Ban On Russian Athletes Should Scare Dopers","description":"Russia’s track and field athletes ‘Olympic doping ban will send a serious message to cheaters, according to Usain Bolt.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/svRwQI14/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2016-07-24T19:56:25.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/svRwQI14.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4446989/rio-2016-olympics-doping-efimova-gatlin-lilly-king-drug-cheat/","duration":"PT39S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4446989/rio-2016-olympics-doping-efimova-gatlin-lilly-king-drug-cheat/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```