Yulia Efimova questions Michael Phelps’ Olympics status

The Russians have been all over the media at the Olympics for the wrong reasons, and it continued on Friday with Yulia Efimova’s latest comments.

Russian swimmer Yulia Efimova has been at the forefront of scrutiny through the first week of the 2016 Rio Olympics. This is due to the doping violations surrounding Russia’s athletes, which led to them nearly being banned from the Games. Efimova has tested positive twice for performance-enhancing drugs, both of which she has denied knowingly doing so.

American swimmer Lilly King notably took aim at Efimova before one of the events. King’s now famous finger wag was due to her not thinking the 24-year-old should be competing. She called for this violator to be “banned for life”.

Well, Efimova has decided to speak out as well. According to Yahoo Sports, she spoke at a recent press conference about King’s comments. When asked, the Russian replied, “What would [King] say about Michael Phelps?” She also claimed to have never doped “on purpose”.

Efimova is referring to Phelps’ past run-ins with the law. His most notable one came in 2009, when a picture surfaced of him with a bong. This resulted in a three-month suspension by USA Swimming. He was also arrested in 2014 for a DUI and speeding. This led to a six-month suspension.

There’s a stark contrast between what Efimova and Phelps did. The former tested positive multiple times for use of drugs to cheat to win. While the 22-time Olympic gold medalist’s actions were wrong, he didn’t attempt to unfairly get an advantage on the competition.

Next: 30 most inspiring moments in Olympics history

Comments like these will continue to put Yulia Efimova in hot water. She has arguably been the most controversial part of the 2016 Olympics, and isn’t helping her image anytime she speaks.