U.S. Olympic swimmer Lilly King took exception to a cocky finger-wag by Russian competitor Yulia Efimova, telling NBC after her 100-meter breaststroke competition that Efimova was a cheater and she was "not a fan."
Cameras caught the 19-year-old King looking disdainfully at a TV monitor showing Efimova wagging her finger defiantly after winning her semifinal event with a time of 1 minute, 5.72 seconds. King wagged her finger back at the monitor, then went out and promptly swam a 1:05.70 to take the No. 1 seed heading into Monday night's medal competition.
Efimova was banned last month from the Olympics as part of the Russian state-sponsored doping scandal, and previously in her career was suspended for more than a year for doping. She was reinstated to the Olympic competition at the last minute, however, and she was greeted by boos before and after her race on Sunday.
King, who mocked the Russian by waving her finger with a smile as she got out of the pool, did not like Efimova’s show of bravado.
"You know, you’re shaking your finger No. 1, and you’ve been caught for drug cheating," King said. "I’m just not a fan. You know, going to swim my heart out for USA, and hopefully that turns out the best."
King said she was not pleased with her time, but she said she was happy to be the top seed and would go for a time of 1:04 in the final.