Teenager Ye Shiwen calmly deflected controversy over her super-fast swimming as she spearheaded China’s quest for Olympic glory on Tuesday.
Ye, repeating her denial of ever using drugs, said suspicions voiced by some observers did not affect her — and had even spurred her on.
The 16-year-old was speaking after setting a new Olympic record to win the 200m individual medley, as China won four more titles to maintain their lead in the medals table.
“I don’t feel upset or sad about what the media have been saying about me,” Ye said. “I feel calm, but it just encouraged me to prove myself.”
Ye had aroused comment with her world-record 400m medley win, which included a last lap that was faster than men’s winner Ryan Lochte. But she said she was “absolutely not” a drug cheat.
“I do two-and-a-half hours (of training) every morning, two-and-a-half hours every afternoon and I have trained for nine years,” said the tousle-haired teen.
“I think everyone can achieve their goal. In my mind everyone can be a genius. I think in other countries people have won multiple medals and no one says anything about them, so why should they say these things about me?”
Ye kicked home with now-trademark speed in the 200m medley, adding to China’s golds in diving, weightlifting and fencing as they reached 13 golds on day four, four better than the United States.
Lin Qingfeng won the men’s -69kg class weightlifting, Lei Sheng was victorious in the men’s foil fencing and China made it three out of three in diving as Chen Ruolin and Wang Hao clinched the women’s 10m synchro platform. And China unofficially pocketed the women’s table tennis — for the seventh consecutive Games — when Ding Ning and Li Xiaoxia set up an all-Chinese final.
