SWIMMING’S WORLD GOVERNING body FINA have hit out at the speculation surrounding the performances of Ye Shiwen at the London Olympics.
Ye set a world record in winning the 400m individual medley and an Olympic medal in claiming her second gold in the 200m medley, but has found herself faced with insinuations that such displays were due to the use of performance-enhancing drugs.
British Olympic Association chairman Colin Moynihan and LOCOG chairman Seb Coe have come to the defence of the 16-year-old.
A statement from FINA today read: “Following recent comments reported in the media, FINA would like to clearly state that there is no factual basis to support this kind of insinuations related to the performances of the Chinese swimmer, Shiwen Ye.
“This athlete has fulfilled all of the FINA doping control obligations, having been tested on four occasions in the last 12 months, including twice before the Chinese Olympic trials in 2012. FINA is a leading international federation in the fight against doping and its policy aims at ensuring a drug-free sport in all of its aquatic disciplines.”
Ye took five seconds off her personal best and a second off Stephanie Rice’s world record in the 400 IM, but it was the manner of her victory that drew special attention after she swam the final length quicker than the winner of the men’s equivalent Ryan Lochte – although he was noticeably easing down.
American coach John Leonard branded her performance ‘disturbing’ and made comparisons with previous doping cases, but Ye felt such insinuations were unfair.
“I think this is a little bit unfair for me, however I was not affected by that. I’m not affected by the outside noise,” she said.
She agreed with the analysis of Jiang Zhixue, who leads anti-doping work at China’s General Administration of Sport, who said the critics were biased.
“I also feel the same way, they are biased,” she said. “I think that in other countries other swimmers have won multiple golds and no-one has said anything. How come people criticise me just because I have multiple medals?”
Careful
Ye has not just suddenly exploded onto the scene, with double gold at the 2010 Asian Games followed by 200m IM gold at last year’s World Championships in Shanghai. London 2012 chairman Lord Coe said it would be ‘very unfair to judge an athlete by a sudden breakthrough’.
He told ITV News: “What you tend to forget is probably the 10 years of work that’s already gone in to get to that point.
“You need to look back through her career. I think you’ve got to be very careful when you make judgments like that but yes, it is an extraordinary breakthrough.”
