1. Chinese swimmer’s record-breaking swim attracts doping speculation.
Chinese schoolgirl, Shiwen Ye turned a lot of heads (like, she really turned them – we’re talking a 360 degree head spin here) this week, as she smashed Stephanie Rice’s previous world record in the 400m individual medley. In fact, she swam so fast that her final freestyle lap was faster than the ultimate winner of the men’s race.
Her phenomenal win is already attracting speculation about whether Ye may have used performance enhancing drugs. As she claimed her second gold medal overnight in the 200m individual medley and another Olympic record – Ye’s father has hit back at his daughter’s critics.
Ye’s father said that he understood it was ‘normal for people to be suspicious’ of his daughter’s amazing performance but that the ‘western media has always been arrogant and suspicious of Chinese people.’ 16-year old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen is being called the Teenage Torpedo after she broke the world record in the 400m individual medly.
Stephanie Rice
2. Stephanie Rice is considering retirement.
She’s only 24 but after failing to medal in the 400m medley and in this morning’s 200m individual medley, Stephanie Rice says she’ll consider quitting the sport post-London. She said: “I love swimming and I love competing and representing Australia but if preparations are going to be like the one I just had, there is just no way in the world I can keep it up.”
Rice was beaten by 16-year-old Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen in this morning’s race – the same swimmer who beat her in the 400m medley.
Alicia Coutts
In other news from that same race – Go, Alicia, go!!! Australia’s Alicia Coutts swam a personal best to win the silver medal in the 200m IM. She’s now won a gold, silver and a bronze at the London Games. Awesome.
Overnight, Australian Bronte Barratt won a bronze medal in the women’s 200m freestyle (hurrah!), James Magnussen qualified fastest for the 100m freestyle, Lleyton Hewitt advanced to the third round of the tennis and the Aussie men’s basketball team, the Boomers, lost to Spain.
3. A silver medal for the Royal Family
We imagine the pool room at Buckingham Palace has some pretty fancy ornaments adorning its walls and now the Windsor’s shall add a silver medal to the collection.
Zara Phillips – grand daughter of Queen Elizabeth II – claimed silver overnight in the equestrian team eventing competition. The event had a seriously royal flavour with Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry all showing up to cheer Zara on.
Zara Phillips
Zara said of her team’s performance “It’s incredible. We’re really grateful to everyone who’ve come here to cheer us on.”
Olympians often talk about how important it is to be able to share their success and achievements with their supportive families – well Zara got to do just that and from the winner’s podium no less: her very own mum Princess Anne presented the medal.
4. Swiss Soccer player sent home for racist tweets
They’re calling them the Twitter Olympics and this is one of the reasons why.
Swiss soccer player Michel Morganella has been sent home from the London Games because of a racist tweet sent out after Switzerland’s loss to South Korea. Following the incident, a Swiss official said: “Michel Morganella has discriminated against, insulted and violated the dignity of the South Korean football team, as well as the South Korean people.”
If you want to, you can read that tweet – which has now been deleted from Morganella’s account – here.
And in our favourite video of the day…
It’s Michelle Obama hugging the ENTIRE US Men’s basketball team after their match. Awwww.
What have you been watching during the Olympics?
Comments
76 Comments so far
It’s amazing how many people are happy to assume this young girl is a drug cheat just because she’s Chinese.
“Oh yes, well, they’ve done it before, you know.”
Well, I don’t know about anyone else but I’m convinced that she’s a cheat, based on no more than history and speculation. I mean, we can’t go wrong, can we?
loading...
Perhaps it’s because she swam 2 seconds faster than any bloke as for the same journey?
I’m not advocating guilt by any means, but it cause for suspicion.
loading...
i love how all the basketballers line up for their presidential hug. best.
loading...
Hmm – the win at any cost mentality seems to be infiltrating more than one sport:
http://sports.nationalpost.com/2012/08/01/china-plans-own-investigation-of-olympic-badminton-match-fixing-allegations/
loading...
How ignorant and rude our media is to suggest that the Chinese have cheated!!! How dare they be such sore losers. How dare they insult one of our neighbors! How dare they make such suggestion about one of the proudest countries on this earth! How breathtakingly ignorant to level such an accusation at the Country to which we are so economically reliant upon. As just one person whose business depends upon the relationship our country has with China, I am appalled and embarrassed by our flagrant disregard for respect.
There is a reason China is leading the medal count. I cringe to think that behind closed doors they are probably glad they can stick it to us. And I can only agree – friends and neighbors don’t call each other cheats. Who could blame them from thinking we are redneck idiots.
loading...
I believe it should be mandatory for every athlete , who wins a medal, to be drug tested.
loading...
It is. All medallists will be tested.
loading...
They are, but the drug tests often don’t pick up the latest way of cheating.
loading...
I think that part of the reason people are suspicious of the swimming results is that this girl has no past record. If you go to most other countries swimming associations you can see years of age results for all of the swimmers. Ian Thorpe was winning races at 12 and 13 years old and as he trained more and got stronger his results got better, the same with Phelps. It is a gradual improvement. These Chinese swimmers have no track record and suddenly on the world stage at the biggest swim meet in the world they appear and break records. At this level records usually get broken by 100ths of seconds, the top ranked swimmers have very little difference in their times. When someone who has never swam at worlds or a past FINA event suddenly beats a field of proven swimmers then people will always ask questions. the world of elite swimming is very small and everyone in each country knows the times the others are swimming. Past history along with a lack of past results from this swimmer is why people are questioning this. Also, it is probably very likely that the swimmer herself does not know if she has been given anything. Her every thought and action would be dictated by her coach and minders.
MM team, where do you get the images from for your galleries? Do you have to pay a fee to use them? Are you supposed to credit the photographers?
Not having a dig or anything, just curious about how it all works, especially with images coming out of the Olympics. I heard it was all very tightly controlled.
loading...
I’m not sure how you can say she has no past track record and then say that Ian Thorpe was winning races at 13.
Here is a cut and paste of her past track record..
2010 Chinese Nationals – Med 1.png 1st 200 m individual medley
2010 China Water Games – Med 1.png 1st 200 m individual medley; Med 3.png 3rd 400 m individual medley
2010 FINA Swimming World Cup (Beijing Leg) – Med 1.png 1st 200 m individual medley; Med 1.png 1st 400 m individual medley; Med 1.png 1st 100 m freestyle
2010 Asian Games – Med 1.png 1st 200 m individual medley; Med 1.png 1st 400 m individual medley
2010 World Championships (25 m) – Med 2.png 2nd 200 m individual medley; Med 2.png 2nd 400 m individual medley
2011 Chinese Nationals – Med 1.png 1st 200 m individual medley; Med 1.png 1st 4×200 m freestyle relay
2011 World Aquatics Championships – Med 1.png 1st 200m individual medley
2012 Olympics – Med 1.png 1st 200m individual medley; Med 1.png 1st 400m individual medley
which means that she was winning races at the same age as Ian Thorpe.
Also she trains in Brisbane under two Australian coaches. So if she was cheating it would be Australian coaches who were giving her the drugs. Something they have just denied on Australian T.V.
loading...
hi
http://www.geckogo.com/profile/137748662
loading...
The women in the 3m synchro did an amazing job in the wee hours of this morning to come 4th in the final. Loudy & Rachel did brilliantly and should be really proud of themselves, even if it doesn’t get covered in the papers or on Channel 9!
loading...
Suspicion based on race is…racist
loading...
Tell that to every airport security worker who profiles every person based on where they come from and how they look.
Racist or past experience??
loading...
I guess racism being wrong or right could be another debate?
loading...
My suspicion based on a particular country’s past dodgy record is just that – suspicion, so your tone trolling is misplaced and offensive.
loading...
Wow Jane, you single handedly lack the articulation to justify racism and instead throw out an ad hominen insult in place of civil conversation.
Perhaps trolling has been redefined, or perhaps a single word I said in that six word entry was wrong, feel free to tell me which part of holding a person of a race to suspicion based on the actions of their compatriots is not racism.
Justify it all you like, the KKK does.
loading...
Swimmers from China’s team have been repeatedly busted for doping over a great many years. It’s not racist to suggest that a 15 year old girl breaking records may be doped. It’s based on past experience with and performance by the Chinese women’s swimming team. Not everything is a baseless unfair attack, FHB.
loading...
But Kris (how you doin btw?), whether it’s justified or not it’s still coming from a position of privilege and is still based on race, which by definition (which I didn’t make up) is racist. Whether prejudice is justified is another conversation and I’m not judging I’m merely putting a label on it for what it is. I think a degree of prejudice has benefited human evolution, but a spade is a spade is a spade.
loading...
Hey FHB, I’m good. How YOU doin?
It’s only based on race because they look different to us. If it was the old days of the East German women, and the same suspicions were raised, would it still be racist? Because that’s all that is happening, by and large. From me anyway.
loading...
Excuse me? I merely pointed out that a specific sporting team (women’s) wilthin a specific sporting discipline (swimming) within a specific country (China ) with an ongoing record of drug cheating has thrown up another superhuman swimmer out of the blue.
So, by your definition no one can cast aspersions on any country on the basis of it’s past record?
And coming from a position of privilege? Please define my privilege as you see it in the context of this discussion.
loading...
Sorry, edit function has gone AWOL – I meant no one is allowed to cast aspersions on any organisation in any country.
loading...
“So, by your definition no one can cast aspersions on any country on the basis of it’s past record?”
What like Asian drivers? Loudmouthed Americans? Heartless Germans?
It all comes from ONE place and again to clarify, I am not judging the action merely labeling it. You are free to judge as you please and I’m free to call it, if you think I’m taking tonality and high horsedness then think again, I completely understand prejudice.
It’s just that Racism :
The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race, esp. so as to distinguish it as…
Prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief.
I didn’t write the dictionary. This is excatly the same sort of thing that happens to Pakistani Cricketers or If a Lebanese person gets in a fight in Sydney or a Skinny White guy shoots ten people or a pitbull mauls a child.
Sometimes prejudice is self preservation, but it’s still dictionary racism.
Sometimes it’s embarrassing when holier than thou White Australian Nationals point the finger at anyone who beats them (which happens way too often).
The girl exhibits NO traits of a steroid user.
Those wide shouldered 200 pound swimmers in the past totally eclipse this gifted young girl’s frame but never her natural talent. If she is a drug cheat she will be caught, otherwise the misogyny needs to stop.
(Thanks Sun Tzu)
loading...
Of course you chose not to quote my amended statement, I guess that shows how you are choosing to try and skew my comments.
You seem to not be getting that I was criticising the Chinese swim team (NOT all Chinese people). On proven evidence of multiple breaches of doping.
By your own quoted definition of racism being:
“The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race…”
- my comments are not racist.
And I am still waiting for your explanation of my privilege in the context of the discussion.
loading...
Of course you chose not to quote my amended statement, I guess that shows how you are choosing to try and skew my comments.
You seem to not be getting that I was criticising the Chinese swim team (NOT all Chinese people). On proven evidence of multiple breaches of doping.
By your own quoted definition of racism being:
“The belief that all members of each race possess characteristics or abilities specific to that race…”
- my comments are not racist.
For example, are these both racist comments:
a) The Chinese divers have won a lot of diving gold medals, wow their divers are awesome and have clean drug records – the Chinese diving crew must really have great training methods for their outstanding divers.
vs
b)The Chinese swimmers have won a lot of swimming gold medals, wow they are awesomely fast swimmers but gee a lot of them in the past have abused performance enhancing drugs, is it great athletes and training or something else?.
And I am still waiting for your explanation of my privilege in the context of the discussion.
loading...
Jane, er, um, so how is your night going?
I will try to be clear…
You, the subject being Jane are judging the swimmers, the subject being Chinese swimmers in the absence of others on the basis that their compatriot Country/Race has in the past had members of said group that broke rules. You have then applied the actions of other people who are not related by anything other than Racial geographical proximity, to the actions of this person and not judged her as a singular entity based on her own actions.
Please bear in mind she wasn’t even BORN when her compatriot country members broke the rules. Australians keep importing drugs to Bali, should we all be profiled as drug dealers based on those “traveler’s” actions?
Is this willful differentiation or divergence?
Privilege is sometimes not checking one’s prejudice against their own barometer but how they would prefer to be judged too.
loading...
There was an interesting interview about doping on the 7.30 report last night. Basically they are now using ‘intelligence’ rather than testing because doping is just about impossible to detect in the system. That means spying and digging out dobbers – as is happening with Lance Armstrong. But if it’s part of a massive organisation (such as Chinese sporting authorities), it will be nearly impossible to find someone who will talk. It’s possible even the athletes don’t know they’re being doped.
loading...
You are right Kate. They have to wait until they get intel, or they bust a team coach or physio or someone associated with the team in a hotel or at an airport with drugs, they then test thoses drugs and create a test to detect them in old samples.
Have to disagree with your comment about Lance Armstrong thought.
He is the most drug tested person in history and has never had a dirty sample. Even his old samples have been tested and re tested and tested again and nothing has ever come back.
I really think he is clean and it is just sour grapes by others, especially France that continue to accuse him. Sometimes, very rarely someone can do the impossible. I think Lance, Michael Phelps and Ian Thorpe are the real deal.
The Chinese girl, not so much
loading...
Agree with everything you wrote, Nicky. I think Lance Armstrong and the other guys you mention are the real deal too.
loading...
Not saying Armstrong is a drug cheat – just that the evidence being brought up against him is inter-based. Not chemical. I understand Marion Jones never tested positive but made her confession after investigation.
loading...
Michelle Obama. Could you GET any cooler?
loading...
She’s a complete natural, isn’t she?
Hope this doesn’t set off a trend for world leaders hugging their athletes!
loading...
Awww, that video was awesome… although I must admit that when I read that Michelle hugged the entire team, I REALLY wanted it to be a video of her hugging them and only coming up to their waists! Ha!
I’m also really hoping that Shiwen Ye’s tests prove that she is clean… what an achievement for a sixteen-year old! Questions were always going to be asked, but I hope it isn’t long before she can stand in front of the cameras, grinning because she’s a champion!
loading...
And on another note, gee I love Michelle Obama.
I’m such a fangirl
loading...
Last night’s men’s volleyball was a fabulous match. I think it may be my new favourite sport… the power, the grace, the grunt…
loading...
Oh my god that is the cutest video ever! I love the way they are all lining up to get their hug.
loading...
yes she is a drug cheat, no they won’t catch her at these Olympics, yes in a few years they will find the drugs she has been using and will be able to develop a test for it, yes they will re test her sample and it will be dirty, yes she will be stripped of her medals and the history books will be changed, yes the rightful winners will forever be ripped off that they could not take their rightful place on the podium.
Also, why are most of the pictures in the gallery of althetes taken NOT at these games but a hodge podge of other events?
loading...
I love that they keep the samples for 10 years so when they develop the science to detect the undetectable drugs it usually outs them eventually.
Just like Marion Jones.
loading...
Marion confessed. They did not catch her through drug testing.
loading...
I heard someone on radio the other day jokingly suggest medals for this Olympics should be awarded in 2020 when the 8 year statute of limitations on keeping samples for drug testing is reached.
loading...
Because making galleries and sourcing images takes time. So, knowing we’d need galleries for the next couple of weeks, we made them in advance to have up our sleeves.
loading...
So I got up this morning to watch the 200m IM and I have to say my favourite moment was when Alicia Coutts hugged Ye Shiwen straight after the race. So beautiful. There’s been some awesome sportsmanship shown by the female athletes, dontchathink?
loading...
Is it really that hard to believe that in a population of 1.3B that the Chinese can’t produce a great swimmer? We only have 22 million and we produce great swimmers. Ye only beat Stephanie Rice’s previous record by 1 second. And the comparison to men’s winner is totally inflammatory – she may have beat his lap time for the 50m but his overall race time was better than hers by more than 23 seconds. He was so far ahead of the field that he took his foot of the gas in the last lap because no one was near him. It’s hardly something to compare too.
loading...
Yes, yes, yes.
loading...
I am SO glad you have written this. And while she beat Lochte’s time, his split was only fifth fastest in the race – so four other MEN went faster, Lochte won because he was so far ahead. Michael Phelps won 8 gold… and not one person accused him of doping
loading...
Actually there is an ex-Chinese team official familiar with doping who has suggested exactly that.
loading...
But that was only in response to everyone being suss about this Chinese swimmer… at the time when he won all these medals no one even suggested that it was suss… And that was the Chinese officials point. A fair one I would say.
loading...
Maybe it wasn’t reported. I seriously doubt there’s been no conjecture (rightly or wrongly) about other swimmers.
loading...
Pardon my cynicism, but the Chinese have only themselves to blame for the suspicions – like said below, their track record is hardly clean.
loading...
It’s not that they have produced a great swimmer, they have done that for a long time. It’s that they have a track record of serious doping of kids (she’s only 15, remember) and she’s smashing records left and right.
I don’t think it’s inflammatory at all to compare a 27 year old man’s swim to a 15 year old girl’s. They’re not comparable strength wise.
She may be a freak of nature, but commonsense and experience tell us otherwise.
loading...
Inflammtory is probably the wrong word. It is however misleading to compare only one leg of the swim. As I said before Ye’s overall time was beaten by Lochte’s overall time by 23 seconds. And as Lella pointed out his free split was slow – 4 other men beat Lochtes’ time for the free in the same race.
loading...
Couldn’t agree more. it it had been an Australian who had swum that time, the entire nation would be up in arms if anyone even suggested at hinting we produced a drug cheat.
people doubted Ian Thorpe’s ability at first, but then we realised his body was perfectly designed to do what he did. I think it is the same for Ye, her huge hands were what got her put in to swimming in the first place, and she has worked really hard to get to this stage. I say celebrate her achievement.
loading...
That. Video. Is. Awesome.
loading...
Hehe that photo of the basketballers lining up for their cuddle is quite cute! Gave me a nice smile on a dreary wednesday morning
loading...
The western media has been suspicious of the Chinese swimmers because their female swimmers have been built like blokes and stronger than them, buddy. It’s nothing to do with arrogance, and rightly to do with suspicion going on past performance.
loading...
Agree.
The Chinese have been accused (can’t remember which Olympics) when their women were so well built they looked like the men.
In the end, they did get busted for doping their team – we’ll see what happens this time. If she is just a terrific swimmer, I take my hat off to her!
loading...
Twenty seven Chinese women have flunked drug tests since 1990, more than the total from all other nations.
This is some of the team members from the ’94 Swimming World Championships in Rome where Chinese women swimmers accepted 12 out of the 16 gold medals .
loading...
That is exactly the image that pops into my head when I hear doping and Chinese women’s swimming team.
loading...
Kris, did you see that programme on SBS the other week, The Dirtiest Race in History? It was about the men’s 100m trace race in Seoul 1988.
loading...
No I fell asleep putting K to bed, but Mum watched it I think. That was nasty. Did you see the dodgy ad Ben Johnson did on Gruen Sweat last week?
That race was like a bull on, well, steroids, chasing down a gazelle.
loading...
Sorry Kris, just basically parroted your comment!
loading...
A fellow female squad member in the Chines team was banned earlier this year for failing a doping test.
loading...
Can’t really blame a Dad for coming to the defense of his 16 year old daughter though.
loading...
For sure! I don’t think anyone’s under any illusion that it’s the parents doing the doping. He’s probably none the wiser. She’s probably none the wiser, just takes what gets prescribed because that’s what you do. Which makes doping even worse.
loading...
Ummm why are we talking about this like its been PROVEN or is no doubtebly true?!? Yes there can be suspicions, but lets not talk about it like its fact.
loading...
We’ll see, aura.
loading...
Michelle Obama is fantastic.
loading...
I was just at the swimming!! It was our 7 yo’s “best night ever” and incredible to think that our lucky little family has been to an Olympic swimming final! I remember watching the Moscow Olympics before school when I was my daughter’s age. London is in a great head space at the moment. So much love around. They are doing themselves very proud. I now go to bed having ticked off an amazing life experience.
loading...
So sick of hearing about Zara. She seems lovely, and she rode really well, but she’s not the hero team GB. Mary King broke her NECK in 2001 and rode GB to that silver medal, THAT is a hero. And seriously, people who say equestrianism isn’t a sport. How many sports can you actually die doing? One of the Canadians is still in hospital with concussion and a sacral fracture. Our sport is hard core. HUGE props to our amazing, heroic Aussie eventers, Chris Burton rode beautifully (and you want a hot athlete? Check him out!) and Sam Griffiths was a hero considering he had less than 48 hours notice he’d be in the Olympics. It was a tragic run of bad luck for our eventers, but they handled themselves amazingly, truly something to be proud of- bring on Rio and the WEG!!!
Make sure to watch Edwina Tops-Alexander who is a chance for an individual medal in the terrifying show jumping which is coming up soon, and team GB should really get a gold medal in dressage off their phenomenal team.
loading...
Edwina Tops-Alexander – now that’s an equestrian name!
loading...
It’s a tops name, if you ask me.
loading...
She’s on a team with James Patterson-Robinson too! I can’t talk, I’m of a hyphenated name as well … but we do get some good rider names.
Personal favourite is the British eventer Piggy French!
loading...
“Piggy French”
Seriously? Oh, that’s even better than that US (female) swimmer in 2000 – Misty Hyman.
loading...
I’m not sure that I’d call someone who kept riding with a broken neck a hero!!
loading...
Stephanie Rice said she wasn’t going to another Olympics in 60 minutes weeks ago. Not new news.
loading...
Yea she was always going to retire regarless of her results this Olympics. She’s been saying that for 2 years.
loading...