Lilly King Comments on Wagging Finger at Russian Swimmer Yuliya Efimova

American swimmer Lilly King explained that she is "not a fan" of Yuliya Efimova after she was seen wagging her finger at the Russian at Rio 2016 on Sunday. 

Efimova, 24, was initially banned from the 2016 Games as a result of the International Olympic Committee's decision to prevent any Russian athletes who had received past doping suspensions from appearing in Brazil.

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However, despite a previous 16-month suspension after testing positive for anabolic steroids and a positive test for meldonium earlier this year, for which she was cleared, Efimova was ruled eligible to compete in Rio by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Saturday, per BBC Sport.

After she won her 100-metre breaststroke semi-final at the Rio Aquatics Centre on Sunday, Efimova, the world champion at the distance, held up one finger in salute, and King was filmed backstage responding in kind at a television, per IndyStar Sports' Matt Glenesk:

When asked after her own semi-final—which she won—what prompted her response, Olympic debutant King, 19, did not hold back, per NBC (h/t Sports Illustrated): "You’re shaking your finger No. 1, and you’ve been caught for drug cheating. I’m just not a fan."

King's time was two-hundredths of a second faster than Efimova's, and the pair will compete in lanes four and five, respectively, for Monday's 100-metre breaststroke final.

The youngster is clearly not the only one who does not believe Efimova should be at the 2016 Games as she was booed by the crowd on Sunday, per sports writer Christine Brennan:

Irish swimmer Fiona Doyle, who failed to qualify for the 100 breaststroke semi-finals by one place, also spoke out against the Russian, per Daniel Schofield in the Telegraph:

"

Cheaters are cheaters. She (Efimova) has tested positive five times and she’s gotten away with it again.

It’s like FINA (swimming's governing body) keep going back on their word, and the IOC keep going back on their word. And FINA caved in to (Vladimir) Putin, and that’s just not fair on the rest of the athletes who are clean. Who are you supposed to trust now? They have signs all over the village saying we are a clean sport, and it’s not. And I just don’t think that’s fair.

"

Efimova is likely to receive a similarly hostile reaction when she appears in the final and, following King's comments, there is sure to be a highly charged atmosphere for the race.