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China swimmer in doping debate
China hit out at allegations of drug use on Monday before their swimmers prepared to launch a fresh assault on the Olympic pool, as Games organisers moved to quell anger over empty seats. Anthem off-tune | Conquering the pool
China hit out at allegations of drug use on Monday before their swimmers prepared to launch a fresh assault on the Olympic pool, as Games organisers moved to quell anger over empty seats.
The world record-breaking performance of Chinese teenager Ye Shiwen in Saturday's 400m medley final has been the talk of the Olympics so far, with the British media questioning the legitimacy of her display.
Ye's final freestyle leg of the race was quicker than that of her counterpart in the men's race, Ryan Lochte, a statistic that was described as "insane" by Australia's Stephanie Rice.
The Chinese youngster was back in the pool on Monday for the 200m medley heats, and indicated that once again she will be the woman to beat after qualifying with a time that was nearly two seconds quicker than her rivals.
However Ye bristled when quizzed about drug use in Chinese swimming. "There is no problem with doping, the Chinese team has a firm policy so there is no problem with that," Ye said.
The Times newspaper was less convinced however, describing Ye's astounding last leg performance as "scarcely credible."
However the International Olympic Committee's medical commission chief Arne Ljungqvist leapt to Ye's defence, calling the speculation around the youngster's performances 'sad'. "For me, it is very sad that an unexpected performance is surrounded by suspicions," he told a briefing. "I mean to raise suspicion immediately when you see an extraordinary performance - to me it is against the fascination of sport."
Ticket trouble
Meanwhile under-fire London Olympic organisers (LOCOG) continued to face criticism over the banks of empty seats which have been seen across various venues since the Games got under way on Saturday.
Some 3,000 tickets from international sports federations were "put back in the pot" and sold to the public Sunday, LOCOG said amid growing public anger over empty seats.
Rush hour
Britain's much maligned public transport system coped with an unusually quiet early rush hour on the first full working day of the Olympics on Monday, winning an early gold for carrying one million spectators smoothly through Europe's busiest commute.
Travellers said buses and trains were working surprisingly smoothly with a few hiccups, confounding dire forecasts of a transport meltdown in a city once notorious for slow trains, late buses and incoherent delay announcements.
Bad math
Tunisia may have missed out on its first medal at the London Olympics because of bad math.
Weightlifter Khalil El Maoui was in second place of the men's 56-kg competition after the snatch on Sunday but never showed up on the platform for the second lift, the clean and jerk.
He blamed his coach afterward for submitting an entry weight that was 10 kilograms too high. "It was a mistake," El Maoui said. "I should have started lifting at 148 kilograms but my coach entered 158 kilograms by mistake." North Korea's Om Yun Chol won the event after lifting 168 kilograms in the clean and jerk, a new Olympic record.
China's Li Xueying won her country's second weightlifting gold, breaking two Olympic records to take the women's 58 kg weight division
Gymnast injured
Japan suffered a blow in the men's team gymnastics final on Monday when Koji Yamamuro fell badly in the vault. The 23-year-old, a team silver medallist at the last two world championships, finished with a back somersault but landed on his face and knees. He was helped off, hopping on his right foot.
Aussie relay choke
Australian media Monday lashed out at their world champion men's 4x100m freestyle relay team's failure to win an Olympic medal, calling it one of the country's greatest swimming disasters. "Our failure to win a medal is our greatest swimming disaster in a rich history," the Sydney Daily Telegraph reported. The team finished fourth.
