Cheats will be caught but lay off record breakers, says IOC

Drugs cheats at London 2012 will be caught but athletes who put in world record-breaking performances should be given the benefit of the doubt, the Olympics’ world body said yesterday.

The International Olympics Committee said critics concerned after Chinese Olympic swimmer Ye Shiwen, 16, took five seconds off her personal best and over a second off the world record in the 400m individual medley should “get real”.

“These are the world’s best athletes competing at the very highest level,” said IOC communications director Mark Adams. “We have seen all sorts of records broken already all over the place.”

Duncan Goodhew, Olympic Village Deputy Mayor, and a gold medallist in the men’s 100 metres breaststroke in the 1980 Moscow Olympics, said competitors were innocent until proven guilty — and that there were always “incredible improvements” in performance at large sporting events such as the Olympic Games.

“There are always incredible improvements in any large sporting event such as the Olympic Games, and of course, in terms of that, innocent until proven guilty,” said Mr Goodhew.

“I think it is very destructive and very irresponsible of anybody to accuse people until they are proven guilty.”

His remarks were made following rumblings over Ye’s remarkable performance changed to overt suspicion when American coach John Leonard described her world-record breaking race as “disturbing”.

China’s appalling past record for their swimmers failing doping tests has led to the inevitable suspicions over the teenager, who took five seconds off her personal best and more than a second off the world record in the 400m individual medley.

Ye’s swim was described as “insanely fast” by previous world record holder Steph Rice — indeed, in the final 50m, Ye swam faster than the men’s champion Ryan Lochte.

Mr Leonard, the executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, told The Guardian the performance was “disturbing” and “unbelievable”: “We want to be very careful about calling it doping,” he said.

“The one thing I will say is that history in our sport will tell you that every time we see something — and I will put quotation marks around this — ‘unbelievable’, history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved.

“That last 100m was reminiscent of some old East German swimmers, for people who have been around a while. It was reminiscent of 400m individual medley by a young Irish woman in Atlanta.”

That was a reference to Michelle Smith, who was banned for four years in 1998, two years after winning four medals in Atlanta, for tampering with a urine sample.

Mr Leonard said: “She looks like superwoman. Any time someone has looked like superwoman in the history of our sport, they have later been found guilty of doping.”

Ye herself insists the team have nothing to hide: “The Chinese team keep very firmly to the anti-doping policies, so there is absolutely no problem.”

IOC medical commission chairman Arne Ljungqvist, a veteran anti-doping competitor, said: “You ask me specifically about this particular swimming. I say no, I have not personally any reason other than to applaud what has happened, until I have further facts, if so.”