On April 2, Beijing time, South African swimming star Le Clos signed up for the 2024 South African Swimming Championships and the Paris Olympic Trials Paralympic Competition, which aroused strong concern from netizens.
According to the official registration list and schedule released by the South African Swimming Championships, Le Clos's name appeared on the list of the men's 50m freestyle event in the S14-S15 category for the disabled, with a time of 23.64 seconds. According to the Paralympic classification rules, S14 is intellectually disabled and S15 is hard of hearing, and Le Clos has not yet responded to the question of enlisting for the paralympic program, and it is not yet known whether he will compete at the Paris Paralympic Games if he passes. It is worth mentioning that although he has signed up for the para event, Le Clos will still participate in the selection of the swimming event at the Paris Olympics.
Le Clos, who is about to celebrate his 32nd birthday in ten days, is 1.86 meters tall and focuses on butterfly swimming. Le Clos won five medals at the 2010 Singapore Youth Olympic Games, followed by gold in the men's 200m butterfly (beating Phelps) and silver in the 100m butterfly at London 2012. At Rio 2016, Le Clos tied for silver in the men's 100m butterfly final with Phelps and Petr Cech. In addition, Le Clos also has a very impressive record in the short course, becoming the first male athlete in history to win 100 World Cup gold medals in swimming.
At the end of 2016, Le Clos broke the world record in the men's 100m butterfly and became the men's MVP of the World Short Course Swimming Championships with three golds and one silver. In 2018, Le Clos was awarded Best Male Swimmer at the FINA Annual Awards Ceremony. As he gets older, Le Clos is still a first-tier swimmer in the men's butterfly, but it is no longer easy to get on the podium at the World Championships. In 2022, Le Clos was reported to be suffering from depression after an unexpected incident in early 2021 caused him to develop serious psychological problems. This participation in the disability program may be related to this illness.