Rio 2016: Jenny Simpson starts war with Genzebe Dibaba before 1500m final

American Jenny Simpson did her best Lilly King impression, implicating world-record holder Genzebe Dibaba ahead of the1500m final.

After Jenny Simpson failed to qualify for the 1500m final in London, she came into Rio on a mission to make it this time around. She did just that by finishing fourth in her heat, but she’s not favored to win Gold — Genzebe Dibaba of Ethiopia is.

Dibaba set a world record last year after clocking in at 3 minutes, 50.07 seconds. Her coach, however, has a bit of a shady past, having been arrested as recently as two months ago after authorities suspected he was trafficking performance-enhancing drugs.

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So as a way of giving herself an advantage, Simpson has turned towards starting a war of words between the prohibitive favorite when she said this to USA Today after the semifinal:

"I think that you know a tree by the fruit that it bears. And if a tree bears sour fruit, then the fruit around it are likely infected. And so I live my life that way in every way, not just through doping. And so I think that if WADA is on the case, they’ll find what they need to find. I hope so."

The sub-tweeting didn’t stop there, as she also posted this to her Twitter:

If that sounds familiar, that’s because Simpson’s compatriot Lilly King already did something similar to Russian Yulia Efimova before the 100m breaststroke final. Of course, King backed up her finger wag by beating Efimova, but one has to think that she did that to gain a mental advantage.

Between King and Simpson, it’s good to see athletes speak out against doping, why with the issue once again emerging in a pall over the games. And while Jenny Simpson might not a household name just yet, if she backs up the beef by winning the 1500m final, you can bet you’ll be seeing her on the front of a Wheaties box sooner than later.