One of the Chinese swimmers has been accused of doping because she swam too well, beating her personal best by seven seconds. Like a “superwoman.” This is the bit out of the article that really bugs me:
Ye stunned world swimming on Saturday by winning gold in the 400m individual medley in a world-record time. It was her final 100m of freestyle, in which she recorded a split time of 58.68sec, that aroused Leonard’s suspicion. Over the last 50m she was quicker than the American Ryan Lochte, who won the men’s 400m individual medley in the second-fastest time in history.
I can’t really say one way or the other what’s going on. Maybe there’s doping, maybe there’s not. It’ll come out eventually. But some of the way this is being framed reminds me a lot of Caster Semenya in 2008; she was accused of being a man and got treated shamefully because she ran too well. It was total bullshit and I’m incredibly glad she’s back for 2012 so I can cheer for her some more. I suppose I should feel relieved that so far no one’s accused Ye Shiwen of not being a woman. But when one of the major warning signs is that a woman out swam a man, yeah. Gives me that super uncomfortable feeling.
Of course, men get accused of doping just as much, and it is a major problem in sports. Though it seems to me that it’s this insane game of pressure on athletes. Perform like a superhuman, but if you’re too superhuman, prepare to be regarded with chilling suspicion. With added nasty implications from the opposing team, because making it to the Olympics doesn’t mean one can take being skunked with sportsmanlike grace. It also feels like there’s an extra side of shit for this deluxe combo shit meal for female athletes, since there seems to be an expectation that they will perform at peak while still being feminine enough, whatever the hell that even means.
I sincerely hope that Ye Shiwen is cleared of the allegations of doping, and that she is just such a giant badass she got a better time than a guy. That would be amazing. Almost as amazing as Caster Semenya.
I’d much rather read about the badminton scandal, since just combining those two words makes it automatically hilarious.