China’s new darling girl Ye Shiwen sprinted to her second swimming gold in London on Tuesday and quickly dubbed rest of the world ‘biased’ against her country because of their doping allegation.
‘I think when other country wins multiple golds nobody really questions them. How come people criticise me when I have won multiple gold medals?,’ asked a flabbergasted Shiwen.
‘Yes, I think the same way,’ Shiwen took no time to agree being asked if the word is biased against China.  ‘I have done noting wrong,’ she said, denying the doping allegation.
The 16-year-old Chinese girl survived a late challenge from American Alicia Coutts to win the 200-metre individual medley race, collecting her second gold at the London Aquatic Centre.
She followed up her incredible 400m individual medley three days earlier with another exhilarating race that saw her surging ahead from the back in the last 50m to finish the touchline in 2:07.58 seconds. Coutts finished second ahead of compatriot Caitlin Levernz, who came third.  Australia’s Stephanie Rice, the gold medal winner in Beijing had to remain content with fourth place.
Shiwen was overwhelmingly favourite to win the gold, having already broken the Olympics record in the heats. But it did not come so easily as was expected.
It appeared initially that the Americans were successful in making her nervous, raising a dope suspicion that she and her country denied vehemently. She was trailing in the first three laps and when it came to freestyle swimming in the last lap she swept aside the Americans.
It was the same last lap during her 400-metre medley race which she finished faster than Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte, win that led to the dope suspicion by the Americans. It triggered a diplomatic war between the US and China and left the swimming world completely divided. Shiwen found many sympathisers back home and in London, but the dark doping history of China still kept many people suspicious.
Shiwen, however, said the debate did not affect her at all and she had just another normal race.  ‘I think that was a little bit unfair for me, but it didn’t affect me, said Shiwen, already hailed as ‘Chinese female Michael Phelps’.  ‘I want to thank my coaches and team-mates. They are the people who can make me strong.  And that’s why I’m not affected by outside noise.’
A genius in her own right, Shiwen, who is swimming on a world stage for the first time, having missed out on the world championship in Shanghai last year for fever, said she wants to become like Phelps in future.
‘I used to believe that he is my idol, he still is,’ said Shiwen of Phelps, the greatest ever Olympian with 19 medals to his name. ‘I hope one day I can be like him.’