Skepticism seems to pervade these Olympic Games against winners.
At the daily news conference this morning, a German reporter asked Arne Ljundqvist, the IOC chief medical officer, for details of any anti-doping tests done against Michael Phelps, the American swimmer.
Maybe it was just my ears, but his voice seemed to drip with the sort of sarcasm that the French reserved for commentary about Lance Armstrong, the repeat U.S. Tour de France winner who many French assumed was just as doped up as a lot of other riders on the tour.
Ljundqvist said he couldn’t yet give details on whether or win Phelps has been tested.
Later, Phelps was asked at a press conference about doping.
“I purposely wanted to do more tests to prove it (that I’m clean). People can question all they want. But the facts are the facts. I’ve got the results to prove it,” Phelps said.
Of course, some people will never believe. And it’s not only true of Phelps.
The Chinese woman weightlifter Liu Chunhong has also come under questioning. Liu, who lifts in the 69 kilogram category, lifted 31 kgs more over her head Wednesday night than the silver medalist, Oxana Slivenko.
Tamas Ajan, the Hungarian president of the International Weightlifting Association, was asked about that huge gap today: “This morning, I was at the swimming (pool) and I don’t want to tell you the difference between the U.S. man and the second place. Each sport has its great talents and the young lady from China is a great talent.”
A Polish swimming coach is also questioning the huge win of a Chinese swimmer in the women’s 200-meter butterfly, suggesting her smashing of a world record by a whopping 1.22 seconds was “not rational.”
Pan Jiazhang, the coach of Chinese swimmer Liu Zige, strongly defended Liu and China’s swimming program: “Look at how many times our swimmers have been tested, I assure you that this is a clean team."
It’s a bit of a sad commentary on modern sport that few achievements go unquestioned these days.
I’m currently in the stands of the Capital Gymnasium watching the China-U.S. women’s volleyball match. The cheers for China are deafening. Who said home field advantage isn’t huge? Word from my press colleagues is that Chinese President Hu Jintao is down below us in the stands. I can’t personally see him. He didn’t show up for the U.S.-China basketball game, although the papers said he would. China got beaten badly there. This volleyball match seems like a safer bet.
Overrall it seems the audience in Beijing has been very graceful to both home teams and visiting teams, belying worries about rising nationalism in China. I'm also pleased that several Chinese are coaching American teams, e.g., in diving, gymnastics, and volleyball, just like several Americans have been coaching Chinese teams.
Posted by: On the other hand | August 15, 2008 at 08:53 PM
It's interesting that the NY Times reported the skepticism on Liu Zige (including the commented you cited that her victory is "not rational"), but not that on Phelps.
Posted by: On the other hand | August 15, 2008 at 11:18 PM
In the good old days of the emperor, it would be "off with their heads" if they didn't win!
Posted by: A B | August 16, 2008 at 06:48 AM
Note ban on demonstrations in Olympic areas....
August 17, 2008
Swede Stripped of His Medal After His Angry Reaction
By JERÉ LONGMAN
BEIJING — The International Olympic Committee stripped the bronze medal Saturday from a Swedish wrestler who had complained about the judging in his Greco-Roman competition and had discarded his medal during the awards ceremony in protest.
The wrestler, Ara Abrahamian, was disqualified for violating the spirit of fair play of the Games and had his athlete’s credential revoked, according to the I.O.C.
A contentious penalty that cost him a chance to compete for a gold medal in the middleweight division Thursday left Abrahamian furious. News reports said that he had to be restrained from wrestling officials after the incident. He later won a bronze medal in a consolation match, but did not participate in the full medal ceremony.
The Associated Press said that Abrahamian dropped the bronze on the mat as he walked away from the medal podium, while Bloomberg News said that he put the medal on the floor. Abrahamian had finished second at the 2004 Athens Olympics after a similarly disputed call.
In a disciplinary hearing Friday, Abrahamian said he had been a victim of “blatant errors in judging.” The I.O.C. accused him of violating two rules of the Olympic Charter than ban demonstrations in official Olympic areas and prohibit the showing of disrespect for other Olympic athletes.
Posted by: A B | August 16, 2008 at 12:20 PM
LOL, this is exactly the attitude that takes human race right to the top. If there is a flaw in the test, report it; if there is flaw in the process, report it; if there is corruption, find it. That's what journalist should do. Just blindly jumping in and asking these "stupid" questions is not getting you anywhere. I would guess the answer, before these reporters even asked such questions, "No we are not doped".
I have addressed myself in the previous post. We should ask are these repeatedly asked questions in a good intention or a bad one, or even neutral. Asking these "are-you-doped-question" again and again, shows that these reporters assumed skeptics to be facts.
My personal oppinion on this issue is, whoever made such comment on "this is impossible", totally lacking the olympic spirit. Aren't we supposed to be faster and stronger? We are living longer and heathier than people were 40 years ago. We are in 2008 people, your record is last year.
Posted by: Sparkle | August 16, 2008 at 02:18 PM
Journalists are paid to be skeptical. They should be more skeptical and ask more pointed questions. The world, except China, depends on it.
Posted by: Bill | August 18, 2008 at 10:18 AM