Chinese swimming sensation Ye Shiwen’s name has finally being cleared off suspicions of doping. But what about the smear campaign against Ms. Ye? My today’s guest blogger is my friend Winnie Hwo, who is Climate Change and Clean Energy Campaigner for the David Suzuki Foundation. Winnie, who has a long journalism experience and training, is the former News Director of Fairchild Television. She is winner of five Jack Webster Awards for Best Chinese Reporting, including a personal award.

Winnie Hwo
Photo: Courtesy, Winnie Hwo

By: Winnie Hwo

A little support for young Ye Shiwen – the fastest swimmer in the world.

When it comes to China’s Olympic double-gold medalist Ye Shiwen’s swimming capability, she can never be good enough for the western world. Instead of being praised as a “sensation”, like western media applauded Ryan Lochte, she was accused of being a cheat. US swim coach John Leonard told BBC, Ms. Ye’s performance was “unbelievable” and “disturbing”.

In her defence, Ms. Ye said she was not a cheat; she only worked hard. Even the International Olympic Committee’s chief doping officer vouched for Ms. Ye, whose doping test results later, proved she was clean.

Then Ms. Ye went ahead to win another Olympic gold medal, but apparently, that was still not good enough for some.

One of the news reports suggests Ms. Ye is a freak! A report in the Daily Mail insinuates some competitors could have secretly used gene enhancement. It explains how laboratory experiments have already shown that “genetic modification can increase the athletic power of mice.”

To be honest, I have never been a fan of a lot of things that happen in China. I am disturbed daily by the lack of democracy, the lack of respect for human rights, the lack of fresh air and water in China, and the list goes on. So you can just imagine how surprised I am to find myself actually agreeing with the Chinese authorities, which described the western reaction to Ms. Ye’s achievement as “petty”.

But the quickness by some in the western world to deny Ms. Ye’s accomplishment in the London Games shows a much more deep-seated degree of cynicism at play. Ms. Ye is not only a fabulous and hard working Chinese athlete; she is also a young coloured woman.

The inability of the western world to accept her achievements show me, this is much more than China bashing. This is a complete failure of our White male dominated world to grasp the new normal, where women are able to surpass men.

And coloured women are as capable as White women and men.

Ms. Ye is a young and healthy woman who worked hard and tried her best. She managed to achieve gold not only by beating the female swimmers in her category, but by also beating the best record of a White male swimmer, in the world’s most respected and revered sporting event – the Summer Olympic Game. This has got to be one of the most painful experiences any White man had to encounter.

Ms. Ye deserves to have a big pat on her shoulder. The world has no problems congratulating Michael Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Allison Schmidt, Missy Franklin, so why not Ms. Ye?

Categories: Canadian Identity, Racism

Tags: China, Chinese, Olympics Games, Ye Shiwen