Članak samo na engleskom… Dosta vremena mi je trebalo da ga napišem i trebalo bi mi još sat vremena da ga i na srpskom iskucam, tako da se nadam da razumete, vreme je za spavanje i odmor za trening :). Verujem da ćete svi shvatiti poentu, čak i oni koji ne vladaju previše engleskim jezikom.
We all saw Ye Shiwen’s of China performance on 400 individual medley. She won gold medal in stelar race in World Record time of 4:28:43 min while beating second placed Beisel Elizabet of USA by 3 seconds! But what raised eyebrows (common sense) was her last 50 m split which was 28:93 s, and that allmighty Ryan Lochte, while winning GOLD medal in mens event swam it in 29:10 s! If you think „its only last 50 m“, I’ll tell you second last 50 m (fist 50 m free): 29:75 s, and Ryan’s was 29:55 s so overall she swam faster 100 m freestyle than new mans Olympic Champion. End oh, I forgot, she’s only 16 years old (or young should I say).
Just before I write my opinions (which dont need to mean anything) I encourage you to read DISCLAIMER on the bottom of post.
Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen Busts World Record at… por NMAtv
Olympics are pinacle of sports. All athletes across the globe tearing themselves for 4 years only for few minutes or even 2 h (what is 2 h compared to 4 years?) performance which can give them whole glory of modern World or on the other side, bigest fail of their life.
Unfortunatelly, in modern Olympics we still have some nations which are driven by politics. China is one of them, no doubt about that one. They had clear goal in Beijing 2008, to be most sucessfull nation of the Games. But insanely big wish and desire for that. Its not the normal sports desire, goals and dreams, its „life or death“ mission, like a war! At the end they „changed“ rules which state that nation who have bigest amount of single gold medals is most sucessful, but as they had bigest ammount of all three medals, not golds as USA had few more if I can recall corectly, they anounce them as a winners… It reminds me on North Korea which is other Planet. I heard that they anouncing on their national TV that their teams always wins on major competitions, and because of totally isolation and restrictions of tv and internet, population can only beleive it.
Then its not surprise for that state of mind and regimen, which to me seems more and more like 80′s regimen of socialist countries and East Germany, has born many stars who are now Olympic gold medalists and World Records holders, but 2 years prior they’ve been going to school in some unknown part of hilly and snow covered China.
I have been last year in Beijing for World Champs, and it was nice experience, race was very well organised, toally along ITU standards and you didnt have feeling you are in China, it was race same as in Canada or Europe. I experienced some level of life there and saw how many of them living there actually (and it was just minor part of Beijing) and how hard is their life and how dirty they live only for one reason – there so much people on small place that it seems inevitable. I felt sorry for them, its hard life and bigest part can barely survive, while the other „top“ part of nation fills the richest sort of bussinesmans in World thanks to Chinese industries and super strong economy. There, you dont mess with police and people „above“ you. You probably not gonna se light of the day again! Let just say there on internet you cant acces facebook or twitter, and google was long time „locked“. Just look at your or my life, how many time we spending on those 2 social media? …and yet, they cant even access it. Goverment control everything, on one very sophisticated and quiet way.
All that gave me some clue on how their sport regime is functioning. If you are swimmer, you probably have tens of thousdands kids like you spread across the huuuge country (biger than many continents) with same goals. And if you live in Europe, how many kids you need to beat to get into, let say junor Nationa team, 20 of them, or just 15? … Because of this fact its bloody hard to succeed there! First you need to surive that regimne which is nothing but „last man stands“. Unfortunatelly thats the case. Coach have 100 kids like you, and he dont mind if his program will destroy 99 of them, one will surive for sure, and he will be given chance to became champion. But he must be ready for EVERYTHING, and when I say everything you know I mean some not nice stuff. Because after being one of that 100, he probably need to pass two or three more „levels“ like that.
On my second trip to China this year (you red my article…), I got more clear picture on all this crazy stuff. I arrived few days prior race. While I was doing my bike training I spoted 20 chinese triathletes riding in line while the van was driven close to them and from the van’s window coach put his head outside and was screaming on megafon „goo. goo. goo“. I thought they are filming some IIWW movie. They didnt. They’ve been smashing themselves riding intervals 50 km/h 2 days before the race.
I thought „oke“, shame for them, they will be totally smashed and tired, no way they can race, as on top of that, I saw them running after that in same style. Man, womans, boys, girls, all together. Army discipline.
Then happened what happened on briefing and etc, I will not repeat myself, you can red in article… and then race came. And nightmare begun. I have been literally and with purpose smashed by 5 or more chinese guys. They have fight with me and I was hopeless. Once on the bike I was in beetween Chinese super train with 3, 4 or more chinese triathletes, or whatever they are, having some of the hardest time of mylife. They have been riding 50 km/h with cadence lower than 70, without sweating! After 5 km, group which have been one minute down, caught us! That never, ever, ever happened in ITU history. They just blew past us. It was insane. Not one guy, but dozen of never seen and unheard Chinese athletes where majority of them are KIDS. They give us one hell of a race. And just week after that, I was 2 time more confortable riding in first group on hardest course on ITU circuit on World Cup in Mexico with some proven starts! Just for comparison!
Then run came and 2 guys from my group ran 31 minutes!!! And they dont have ITU history!! If you ran on your first Olympic distance tri 35 mins, you are good. No, they ran 31, after that ride! Chinese guy won, who is competing on Olympics. That wasnt (big) surprise as he had great World Cup race weekend before (but I would put big „!?“ above his head as he drasticly, drasticly improved this year), but at least 10 other chinese guys ran 32 or 33 minutes, and I checked their year of births, and surprise, surprise, plenty of 16 yr or 18 yr juniors.
I am in this sport 7 years, and in total I am 17 years in sport, pracitly all my life, and I competed on all continents on all level of ITU racing, and this chinee Conti Cup (3rd level of ITU racing) was brutal. Not even Pope can tell me stories they are not dirty. As a cherry on a cake, organisers worked in cooperation with them in one big cheat of a race, ITU know that and they reacted on next race. Some guys cutted course. Some had special „anti doping“ regime.
Sorry if this was too long, but I needed to express this so you can get a clue what I experienced and why I am building my opinion, obviously negative, but valid, like it or not, about them.
Everything was clear to me after that and I just told myself „it is how it is, you cant change that“, so I am totally cool with that.
But the point is, there’s no difference beetween sports when the Chinese mentality is in question! I can put hand in the fire. How many new born starts are seeing this days? How fast was that Sun’s swim on 1500 m last year on Worlds and on 400 m yesterday or 2 days ago. Then now Ye Shiwen, but also bronze medalist Li Xuanxu who is 18 yrs old. I am not telling everybody is clean, but Chinese people, but its clear their system make them doing bad stuff. If you have american or let say austrian guy doped, he did it to himselved, hiding it. In China your system support you „special program“!
I know girls growing faster and peak faster so its not huge surprise they hit top at young age, but we talking about ENDURANCE sport and they are 16 or 18! Its not gymanstics when the biggest part is techique and how elastic they are.
Unfortunatelly we can just trash-talk like me now, when there are no proofs. And there will be NO proof, at least not in the following years. Cheats, espcially those sophisticated ones are far ahead of anti doping agencies. I am laughing on WADA, no matter how hard they are trying. Let just start with „basic“ human growth hormone (hGH) which now in 2012 still ISNT detectable! Its disaster and it directly means you can walk to pharmacy, get some and tommorow you are flying or recovering far better and without any worrie you will be caught! It is sad. I read (article here) that they MAYBE, but just maybe found new way of testing where hGH can be detected, but still indirectly… And whats with all other drugs. EPO is still not completely detectable while used in microdoses and even if they detect it, how many time pass, jsut look at cyclicts cases… But I am sure there are far more superior and new drugs, tested only on rats (I heard and read on those) which are probably 10 years ahead to WADA to be detected, and with unimaginable powers, as they are making bull from the rat, without magnification!
I was sponsored by supplementation store in Serbia for 3 years, and as a part of contract I had to write on forum regulary whose bigest part make body bilders, and they know all that dirty stuff, they are like doctors. Back in 2008 during Beijing Olympics I remeber one guy calling it „Jintropin Olympics“. What is Jintropin? Its Chinese „brand“ of hGH, lets say equivalent of Power Bar energy bars in Europe :). Sad, really sad.
I think we all must live with those facts and look at those amazing and unreal and unhuman performances, and applaud „athletes“ who are stilling medals, money, fame, everything from clean athletes. And nothing can be done, and probably nothing will be done in this decade. We can just hope, beleive and continue to chop wood and carrie water every day. I beleive that if you work hard and not cheat, it will pay off to you one day, and also, cheaters will get their punishment, on some way. We saw many of them living fake lives and risk physical downs. Its huge weight on them when they know they cheated.
I am just one happy triathlete who can be sure big-big-bigest part of our sport is clean, and our legends like Simon Whitfield, Hamish Carter, Jan Frodeno, Bevan Docherty are mega transparent and clean. I know they are clean as I raced with them (actually never with Hamish, but heard only best about him), and they are not flying, they are swimming, riding and running, same as me, just little bit faster. Ok, you probably think I am naive. I am not naive, of course in every sport you have dark sheeps. We had ours. Brigitte McMahon, Sydney gold medalist tested positive for EPO in 2005. Of course she was on it in Sydney, even she denying it. I read and heard athletes talking abour her performances that year and how unnaturaly strong she was. Also, maybe I shouldnt write this, but many people (I was kind, I have no idea nor I want mess up there) expresses that there is something wrong with silver and bronze mens medal in Sydney. But this aint my teritory and I am off.
Conclusion is clear, and that is that we are in age when we think we know something, but we have no idea what other athletes doing or can do. We have World Anti Dopin Agency who working really, really hard, but unfortunattely without too much success, as they can caught only less smart dopers. Bigest fishes are yet to be caught and unfortunatelly can be caught only if they make mistake! I vividily remember TdF rider admiting to doping and saying that only if he had drank one glass of water more, EPO cera wouldnt be detected in him. Sad smiley.
Once again, I know I need to be happy as I have choosen best sport which is triathlon, and not cycling, athletics or swimming where I would have far biger risk that some other person can decide my future on unlegal way.
If you have any thougths please comment, I would like to hear opinions, its our reallity, we watch all this now!
If Ye Shiwen is really clean athlete, I need to get senteced for 2 years in prison for trashing her image in my readers eyes.
Disclaimer:
I am not nationalist even 0.001%, nor I have any different opinion on any ethical races or countries. My country Serbia (then Yugoslavia) was in huge war with Croatia for example when I was kid. My best friends, majority of them, got very bad seed planted in their brains (which is normal, it was war) that they need to hate. To hate those who are against us, in this case croatians or slovenians or bosnian muslims. It was totally normal you hate all of them from the deep of your soul. But I was actually never into that crap, not even little bit, I didnt care, I just ran down the street and shoot ball as hardes I could. For me it didnt had any sense, and immidiatelly when I started to travel as a swimmer and then as a triathlete, croats was first friends I would made and I had plenty of them today who are real friends and I didnt had any previous thought on them or their mentality or how good or bad they are before I would met them. Then in ’99 my country was under NATO bombarding regimen for long 3 months. Bombs was falling down 2 or 3 km away from me. Briges have been destroyed, we spend many time in basements of our houses or sometimes even slept there when sirens and danger precaution was on. It was far from pleasant (but again, as school was closed, I just ran down the street as fastest as I could and shoot the ball hardest I could). This time it was „in“ to hate american sand everything related with three leters „USA“. I had 9 years at that time, so I was smart enough to realise that its not americans fault because they are bombarding us. Its bad politics, its presidents decisions, its all crap from „above“. So again, I didnt have any „problems“ with random american or brit or italian citizen. I dont need to mention that I have many friends from those countries, and that from the first second of meeting them I know they are good people like almost everybody else is, who is involved in sport, no matter from which country he or she is. So all this facts I expressed is to asure you that I wrote only facts and first-hand experiences and on base of that I am building my final thoughts, which again dont necesary need to be correct!
Some other articles on this topic:
Yahoo - here
Eadt.co.uk - here
UPDATE 31. July:
Science Of Sport „Thoughts of the day 3 at London“ – here and
Guardian article – here
quote by John Leonard, executive director of the Wolrd Swimming Coaches Association:
„But the final 100m was impossible. Flat out. If all her split times had been faster I don’t think anybody would be calling it into question, because she is a good swimmer. But to swim three other splits at the rate that she did, which was quite ordinary for elite competition, and then unleash a historic anomaly, it is just not right.“
„You can’t turn around and call it racism to say the Chinese have a doping history,“ Leonard said. „That is just history. 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. Sorry.“
„The sample will be tested and available for testing for the next eight years. And over eight years, if there is something unusual going on in terms of genetic manipulation or something else, I would suspect over eight years’ science will move fast enough to catch it. I have every faith that eventually if there is something there to be caught it will be caught. Right now all we can say is Olympic champion, world record holder, and watch out for history.“
Didnt liked writing this at all, and was wondering if to publish or not, but it was stronger than me… Enjoy Olympics, I am sure we will witness some true sportmanship and some great events with true athletes, cheats are just minority, and easy to spot in many cases. Ogy