Shiwen could is just a victim of an age of athletics where any world record is questioned. It is a fact that due to the actions of Dwain Chambers, Justin Gatlin and other East German swimmers that athletics and the Olympics as a whole have been tainted with a culture of cheating. By Andrew Binner. Published On 2 Aug Ye stunned world swimming on Saturday by winning gold in the m individual medley in a world-record time.
It was her final m of freestyle, in which she recorded a split time of Over the last 50m she was quicker than the American Ryan Lochte, who won the men's m individual medley in the second-fastest time in history. That last m was reminiscent of some old East German swimmers, for people who have been around a while. It was reminiscent of the m individual medley by a young Irish woman in Atlanta.
Leonard is the first major figure in the swimming world to go public with suspicions over Ye's performance. And perfectly normal for athletic children, let alone future Olympians. Several hours of daily training, like every other Olympic athlete in any sport.
Yes, that IS the question. So, is Ye just the latest example? Let's review the evidence: Ye looks "androgynous" at 16 years old Ye was exceptionally muscular even at 7 years old, when she was chosen to participate in China's Olympics program.
Her mom claims she's a happy teenager But c'mon, seriously? Something about pull-ups. Ye practices for several hours each day. Chinese swimmers have doped in the past.
A swimmer from East Germany cheated at the Olympics 32 years ago. Yes, Chinese training programs are probably every bit as batshit insane as you'd imagine, and there are definitely anecdotes that horrify the rest of the world. But in general, the Chinese programs can't be much different from what goes on at European soccer academies or America's Olympic training programs, both of which take kids from their homes and make constant training a lifestyle. Everyone is insane about this stuff.
If anything, China's just more transparent and proactive about it all, and training in the West is marketed better. Yes, Chinese coaches have faced allegations of abuse. USA Swimming was sued over sexual abuse in A week ago there was another lawsuit. Yes, the Chinese have been caught doping over and over again. But in that department, Americans have as rich a tradition as anyone , and really, the Olympics themselves are one long case study in the evolution of performance enhancing drugs.
Loading comments I have heard commentators saying 'well she is 16, and at that age amazing things happen'. Well yes, but not that amazing. I am sorry. Leonard said that the consensus in the coaching community he represents was that the swim was "unbelievable". At this point it is not believable to many people," he added. All those things, I think, legitimately call that swim into question. Ye also won the m medley at the World Championships in , and qualified fastest for the semi-finals of that event in Monday morning's heats, in a time that was 1.
Leonard also argued that it was fair to point to the positive tests incurred by Chinese athletes in the past. In five junior Chinese swimmers were banned after testing positive for the anabolic agent clenbuterol at the national junior championships. That's fact. Does that make us suspicious? Of course. You have to question any outrageous performance, and that is an outrageous performance, unprecedented in any way, shape or form in the history of our sport. It by itself, regardless of whether she was Chinese, Lithuanian, Kenyan, or anything else, is impossible.
Leonard rejected comparisons to Michael Phelps, who broke the m butterfly world record when he was just 15, back in because the American got "consistently faster every year on a normal improvement curve". He said he had no qualms about the performance of other Chinese swimmers, including the new Olympic m freestyle champion Sun Yang,
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