If the case of 16-year-old swimmer Ye Shiwen is another example of
the gulf of trust that exists between east and west, the two share one
new value: complaining about stuff on social media.Ye came under scrutiny after
she stormed to a world record in the women’s 400-metre individual medley on Saturday and followed with an Olympic record in the 200 IM
on Tuesday. Her gold-medal performances were questioned as suspicious
by a handful of swimming observers and those doubts were reported and
re-reported by the media horde assembled in London.The International Olympic Committee came to Ye’s defence, reiterating a universal principle of innocent until proven guilty and emphasizing the it was doing its due diligence regarding testing for drug cheats.
Still, the idea that a Chinese swimmer alone was being cast as a cheater in a meet full of Olympic and world records did not sit well with the Chinese themselves.
One prominent Chinese tech executive took to the massive social media site Sina Weibo to take a virtual swing at one of the primary proponents of the idea that Ye’s performances were questionable.
TechInAsia.com reports that Li Kaifu, the former head of Google China, used his personal Weibo account to post personal contact information, including what purports to be the home address and phone number, for John Leonard, the executive director of the USA Swimming Coaches Association. His comments to The Guardian were the match that lit the fuse under the debate.
As is the norm in social media, Li’s post was both hailed and criticized, and it was removed within an hour of posting. But, with 15 million followers, an hour is a eternity in social media.
This social-media faux pas — if you believe it to be one — mirrored the saga of Guy Adams, the Los Angeles-based correspondent for The Independent. His account was suspended temporarily by Twitter because his criticism of NBC’s heavily tape-delayed coverage included tweeting the corporate email address of Gary Zenkel, the president of NBC Olympics.
If you’ve had your fill of the Ye controversy, swimming ends on Saturday, although we’re sure track and field will provide it’s own accusations and dramas when it takes over as the marquee event in week 2.
Meanwhile, we’ll leave the last word on the controversy to everyone’s favourite Taiwanese animation studio, Next Media Animation. Their recap of the story includes a satirical depiction of Ye being injected with EPO by a giant panda.