Zhang Yufei hopes her rivals will respect her as clean after a mountain of drug tests in the lead up to the Paris Olympics.
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The star butterfier was one of 23 Chinese swimmers caught up in a doping scandal in the leadup to the Tokyo Games.
The World Anti-Doping Agency cleared the swimmers who tested positive for a banned heart medication months before the Tokyo Games began, allowing Zhang to win two gold.
Zhang said after her first swim of the Paris Games that she is anxious about what others are thinking about the Chinese team.
"I get along very well with friends from different countries and now I come to participate in the Olympic Games," she said.
"I'm very worried that my good friends look at me with colored eyes and they do not want to compete with me or watch my races.
"I also hope that everyone will be objective with bright eyes to look at objective facts."
The 26-year-old estimated she had conducted 20-30 monthly drug tests ahead of Paris.
Zhang added to her Olympic medal collection with a bronze in the 4x100m freestyle - won by Australia - on the opening night in the pool.
Relay teammate Yang Junxuan is one of 11 Chinese swimmers who tested positive in 2021 competing in France.
Zhang is in contention to defend her Olympic title by qualifying third-fastest for the 100m butterfly final on Monday (AEST).
"I don't think there's a single athlete, Chinese or foreign, who would test positive for doping," the star said poolside in Paris.
"They would not want to destroy all the hard work they've put in over the years on doping."
Chinese officials said the swimmers tested positive because of contamination from spice containers in a hotel kitchen where some of the Chinese team stayed for a national meet in January 2021.
WADA Director General Olivier Niggli was pressed by China state media Thursday to address testing of the Chinese.
The competition testing program is overseen by IOC-funded International Testing Agency based in Lausanne, Switzerland, so it is separate from WADA.
"I think the Chinese swimmers should be happy they can show they have been tested so many times," Niggli said.
Australian Associated Press
