American Bald Eagle Mauls Canadian Goose

Relations between Washington and Ottawa have deteriorated amid a trade war and Donald Trump’s repeated references to Canada as “the 51st state”. 

Things worsened further in January, when the Financial Times reported that Trump officials had on several occasions met with the Alberta Prosperity Project, a separatist group seeking to split the oil-rich western province from Canada. 

In response, Prime Minister Mark Carney said he expected Washington to “respect Canadian sovereignty”. 

The White House later sought to downplay the meetings, saying that “no support or commitments were conveyed”. 

And then, on Sunday, when the United States triumphed 2-1 over Canada, in overtime of the men's ice hockey gold medal game at the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Americans decided to rub it in! They shared an image of a bald eagle mauling a goose, the birds symbolizing the two nations! 

And to make matters wild, Trump released an AI-generated video depicting him punching a Canadian ice hockey player after Team USA clinched the famous victory. 

The minute-long video posted on his Truth Social account in the early hours of Monday morning showed the president skating in a suit and tie, pushing over Canadian players before ripping off his gloves and repeatedly punching one of them in the face. Later in the same video, Trump scored and was embraced by his players. 

He also shared a post from Kari Lake, an anchor, a staunch ally of his who made two unsuccessful bids for governor and the senate. 

"Trump, The ENFORCER!", Lake had written on X, reposting the ice hockey video.

If that is not bizarre enough, here's another one. Earlier this month, Trump posted another AI-generated video, which depicted Barack and Michelle Obama as monkeys!

The video was later removed from his Truth Social account after much criticism, despite earlier attempts from Karoline Leavitt, his press secretary, to defend it and denounce the “fake outrage”. 

After the post was deleted, a White House official claimed the video had been “erroneously posted by a member of staff”. 😂😂😂

Man Sits In Parking Lot To "Chope" Space

If you think yesterday's post "The Parking Chairs of Pittsburgh" suggests the selfishness of motorists and/or their accomplice(s) who engage in the self-serving act of reserving parking spaces, an incident in May last year surely takes the cake! 

A Malaysian man had drawn the ire of many after he was seen reserving a parking space by sitting in the lot. 

A now-viral dash cam footage recording the man's actions at Pantai Purnama, a beach in Port Dickson, was shared by an angry driver on Facebook on May 11, 2025. 

The driver wrote: "We went around the carpark three times. When a car exited, another family came in and reserved the parking spot". 

Along with the video, the driver also shared two pictures of the man, who was comfortably seated in a camping chair in the empty lot as his family gathered for a picnic directly in front of the parking area. 

According to the driver who posted the video, the man's excuse for reserving the lot was that his family's vehicle was parked too far away, making it too hard for them to bring their belongings and groceries to and from the car. They presumably planned to move their car over once they spotted the lot free. 

Some netizens also observed that the man was littering, peeling a hard-boiled egg and casually tossing egg shells on the ground. 

The man had since received plenty of criticism from netizens, most of whom felt he "deserves to go viral" for his embarrassing behaviour. Others also urged the driver to just report the incident to local authorities. 

FYI, according to Malaysian law, it is illegal to reserve parking spaces with any object, or by standing or sitting in the spot. First-time offenders of this law can be fined up to RM2,000, or be sentenced to six months in jail, with repeat offenders being served harsher penalties. 

And let's celebrate Olympian Eileen Gu (left), whom I have mentioned twice (February 10th & 16th) in my blog posts just this month alone, and who has collected one gold🥇medal and 2 silver🥈medals for #TeamChina at the 2026 Winter Olympics! Great job! 

With the three medals won in Milan-Cortina and three (2 golds and one silver) from the 2022 Beijing Games, Gu's total of six Olympic gold and silver medals in six events has made her the most decorated freestyle skier in Olympic history, despite being only 22 years of age. 

Let me spell it out again. She competed in six Olympic events over her career: halfpipe, slopestyle, and big air in both Beijing and Milan-Cortina, and has won a medal EVERY SINGLE TIME.

And with five gold, four silver and six bronze medals at #MilanoCortina2026, China achieved its best result at an overseas Winter Olympics! 👏👏👏

Mongolian Outfits for the 2026 Olympics Set Social Media Ablaze

Team Mongolia's 2026 Olympic uniforms are going viral for all the right reasons. 

The 2026 edition draws inspiration from attire of the Great Mongol Empire of the 13th–15th centuries, according to a social media post from GOYOL and the Mongolian National Olympic Committee. The outfits feature structured silhouettes, high collars, and tailored cuts designed for movement in cold conditions. They are made using Mongolian cashmere with silk details and traditional motifs that reference nomadic heritage and national identity. 

Designers behind the collection have said the intention was to bring ancient Mongolian clothing into a modern global moment, not by simplifying it, but by presenting it with confidence as athletes walk into the Winter Olympic Games (February 06–22, 2026). 

It has sparked attention because it feels less like sportswear and more like a statement about history, craftsmanship, and pride. 

And talking about the Milan-Cortina Games, ICE are in Italy too! 

[According to RT, they are assigned to provide security for the US delegation]. 

On February 04, Italy's Interior Minister Matteo Piantedosi had assured that the agents from the divisive US immigration enforcement agency will have no operational role in the Winter Olympics.  

Runway on the Slopes: China's Eileen Gu and Her Personalized Ski Suit

When not risking her neck performing acrobatic tricks on skis, Eileen Gu – actually Eileen Feng Gu (谷爱凌), often referred to by her Chinese name Gu Ailing – loves to strut down runways and pose for magazine covers as a model. 

So, it was no surprise she wore the most fashionable ski suit at the Winter Olympics. Gu qualified for the women’s slopestyle final on Saturday wearing an outfit full of details inspired by her Chinese heritage and her own personal quirks. 

The 22-year-old Gu jumped at the chance to talk about her suit after coming off the course. 

“Oh my gosh, I’ve been waiting for this moment, fit check!” she said before launching into a breakdown of her getup. 

The American-born Gu competes for China, where her mother is from. She said she and a fellow Stanford student designed her suit to honor that family background while also giving a nod to the 2022 Beijing Games, where Gu became a global freeski star when she won two golds and a silver medal. 

The bone white base color of the suit, made by her Chinese sportswear sponsor Anta, mimics Chinese ceramics – also called “China” – creating a backdrop for the blue graphics and pale golden highlights. 

A Chinese-style dragon rears on the sleeve below another patch of a dragon looking fierce and a logo with her name in bold letters. Her name also appears in scrawled graffiti-like lettering under a flap near her neck. That one is covered by a bib, which, because it’s white, does nothing to ruin the look. 

“Of course, I had to bring in the dragon element which was relevant at the last Olympics as well”, she said. “It brought me strength, it brought me courage, it served me well, so I wanted to keep that”. 

One would be hard pressed to find a more personalized suit, which includes a thermometer that changes color according to the temperature. 

“I was obsessed with mood rings when I was little”, she said. “Like, you know, you put them on and they change color with temperature. And so it’s a color changing thermometer”. 

There is also a tiny compass that Gu said was to satisfy her intellectual side. (She did enter Stanford a year early after acing the SAT after all). 

“I just wanted a little modular element for my little nerd brain to nerd out on. But in case you get lost, I can tell you which way is north”, she said. 

But at the end, it came back to the sport she excels at. 

Pointing to another spot on her suit, Gu said: “I have clouds down here to represent the feeling of flying, which I love so much about freeskiing”.

Imane Khelif And Lin Yu-ting Make The News Again

Remember the two boxers, Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting, who both won gold in the welterweight and featherweight categories respectively at the 2024 Olympic Games but were at the center of a gender-eligibility dispute? 

Even after her gold medal victory, Khelif steadfastly maintained: "I am fully qualified to take part in this competition – I am a woman". 

Well, in May, the sports governing body World Boxing introduced a mandatory rule that states any boxer wishing to compete in the female category at World Boxing events – including the World Championships, which starts September 04-14 in Liverpool, UK – must undertake a gene-test. 

The Algerian boxing champ had then lodged an appeal with the Court of Arbitration (CAS) last month to determine whether World Boxing are legally allowed to insist she would have to take an SRY gene test which is a non-evasive cheek swab or blood test that can detect the presence of the Y chromosome which determines male characteristics. 

It was reported that CAS on Monday dismissed Khelif's request to suspend the World Boxing decision until the case was heard. Yet, she was not registered for the said competition and Algeria will send an alternate welterweight rather than the Olympic gold medallist. 

In the meantime, Tseng Tzu-chiang, Lin's coach last week said she would enter, comply with the rules and compete. And yet, she has also not been entered for the same tournament and the final opportunity to enter a boxer has already passed. 

And here's the clincher: Neither Khelif nor Lin had provided World Boxing, with that test. According to Sky Sports.

🙅🙅🙅

Raygun Is the Top-Ranked Breaker in the World?

Australian breaker Rachael Gunn, or “B-girl Raygun”, holds the top spot in her sport’s latest world rankings despite Olympic performances that led to online ridicule.

 

The 37-year-old university lecturer from Sydney, failed to score any points at the Paris Olympics in routines that included a “kangaroo” dance. [My August 16, 2024 post "Australian Breakdancer Steals Show" refers]. 

 

On Tuesday, World DanceSport Federation, the sport’s governing body were compelled to “provide clarity” on why Raygun tops the rankings!

 

WDSF explained that the ranking methodology is based on each athlete’s top four performances within the past 12 months – but excludes Olympic events including the Paris Games and Olympic qualifier series events in Shanghai, China and Budapest, Hungary. 

 

Additionally, no ranking events were held between December 2023 and the Olympics – to allow athletes to focus on qualification.

 

The federation clarified that the unusual circumstances of this year’s competition schedule resulted in many athletes being ranked based on a single event. In the case of Raygun (right), her first-place finish at the Oceania continental championships in October 2023 earned her 1,000 points.

 

Not surprising, many within the breaking community have criticized the rankings for not giving a clear picture of breaking as a sport and as a culture. 

 

“Speaking of the WDSF, they actually don’t have any real merit with the breakers or the breaking community”, said Zack Slusser (left), vice president of Breaking for Gold USA. “And they also haven’t been able to organize events by their measure that would contribute to creating an accurate world ranking”.

 

According to Slusser, breakers only performed in events organized by the WDSF – the Lausanne, Switzerland-based governing body for competitive dance sports – to get enough points to qualify for the Paris Olympics.

 

Breakers “had no incentive, no desire to even continue participating with the WDSF after that”, Slusser said. “Because they’re not cultural events. They are not enjoyable”.

 

Raygun has already brought breakdancing into disrepute and embarrassed Australia. And now WDSF are further hurting the sport's reputation!

Australian Breakdancer Steals Show

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, there’s no way you haven’t seen the infamous dancing exploits of Australian breakdancer Rachael Gunn, aka B-girl Raygun (right). 

 

On August 09, she caused an outsized stir at the Paris Olympics. And embarrassed her country in the process.

 

The 36-year-old lecturer at Sydney's Macquarie University Faculty of Arts turned breakdancer went through three rounds of heats where she could try and rack up as many points as she could by impressing the judges with her breakdancing skills. 

 

However, skill seems to be the primary issue here as she ended up being awarded precisely zero points from all the judges. She successfully earned a combined score of 54-0. Yikes.

 

Two days later, the chief judge for the competition felt compelled to explain why Raygun didn’t manage to score anything, telling the Daily Mail: “We have five criteria in the comparative judging system. Her level was maybe not as high as the other competitors. Again, we’re using a comparative judging system. Her competitors were just better but it doesn’t mean that she did really bad. She did her best". 😂😂😂

 

Check out her breakdancing moves that quickly became the focus of memes and jokes on social media:

 

 

 

 

On social media, some users dubbed one move by Gunn "the kangaroo", while others compared her dance moves to when a child asks you to watch their performance.

 

"I'd like to personally thank Raygun for making millions of people worldwide think 'huh, maybe I can make the Olympics too'", one user wrote on X, alongside a photo of Raygun's Olympic performance.

 

The fact she has a PhD in breakdancing is taking me out! 

 

And breakdancing should never have been included in the Olympics, due to the organic nature of the genre, which doesn't really suit organized competition.

Tapir Turnaround

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Center in Hulu Selangor, Selangor is leading the charge to safeguard the endangered species through breeding and rehabilitation programs. 

 

Located in the 4,330ha Sungai Dusun wildlife reserve, it is the only semi-wild sanctuary for Malayan tapirs (Tapirus indicus) in Malaysia. It houses eight tapirs, many of which were rescued after reports of disturbances from the public. 

 

According to Muhd Adli Ahmad (right), who heads its operations, the center aims to care for and treat tapirs to encourage reproduction, with the goal of releasing some back into the wild.

 

“Since 2004, 14 tapirs have been released, comprising both captive-bred and rescued animals”, he said.

 

The center’s veterinarian Dr Donny Yawah (left) is optimistic about the prospects of tapirs bred in captivity at the center surviving in the wild.

 

“Tapirs are a prehistoric animal known for their high adaptability. There is a reason they have survived till now”, he said.

 

The center’s efforts are much needed as tapir numbers are falling in the country. In Malaysia, tapirs are considered an endangered species and protected under the Wildlife Conservation Act 2020 (Act 716). The species is also listed in Appendix I under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

 

They largely exist within the peninsula’s Central Forest Spine and may live in primary and secondary tropical rainforests. Tapirs are also found in certain parts of Indonesia and Thailand but have gone extinct in Sabah and Sarawak. 

 

These mammals are known to travel up to 4km a day and in the process, spread the seeds of the plants they consume, which helps sustain the ecosystem. However, forest fragmentation due to development and human activities, such as farming, has significantly threatened their habitat and population.

 

Estimates by Perhilitan in 2020 suggest the tapir population has dwindled to between 700 and 800, down from 1,100 to 1,500 in 2013. Recent years have also seen an increase in roadkill incidents, further endangering the species, along with a rise in human-tapir conflicts, from 29 cases in 2018 to 67 in 2021. 

 

The dedicated efforts of the center and Perhilitan personnel highlight the crucial need to do what's necessary to preserve the Malayan tapir, ensuring its survival for future generations. 

 

Note: Though the center is not open to walk-in visitors, those keen on visiting may submit a request to Perhilitan (wildlife.gov.my) for a special permit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

My July 28 post "Pearly-Thinaah Stun World No. 6 Pair in Paris" had referred to the supercomputer prediction made on the Olympic Games Paris 2024. I betted on China to do better than the 68 medals it is anticipated to win. And that I wished for at least 100 medals.

 

Well, China produced mixed results. It did beat the forecasted 68-medal haul but it could only manage 91 medals in total. At least China equaled the US gold medal tally of 40. 

 

Point to note: If Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei (i.e. Taiwan) were to be included, then China's collection of medals would have added up to 44 gold, 27 silver and 31 bronze.

 

Anyway, that aside, this has been Team China's best performance in the Olympic Games held overseas since it began participating in the Summer Olympics in 1984.

 

 

BTW, Malaysia only got 2 bronze medals. Gold remains elusive. 

 

Never mind. There's always the next Olympics. LA 2028.

The US Doping Ecosystem

Doping in sports in the US is not as uncommon as you might think!

A comprehensive study of US doping scandals in the past 20 years as revealed by Yuyuantantian, a media arm of China Media Group, should make the world sit up and take notice.

 

From the outset, most US professional leagues and the National Collegiate Athletic Association have not signed the World Anti-Doping Code, leaving them beyond its control and creating a foundation for internal doping cover-up in the country. 

 

And thus from a young age, American athletes are exposed to the allure of doping, often encouraged by their coaches, agents, and sports institutions, Yuyuantantian said in the report. 

 

Coaches play a crucial role in this area, particularly in youth swimming teams, where they have been known to secretly administer painkillers and other prescription drugs under the guise of treating injuries. Many of these drugs are banned by WADA, alongside performance-enhancing steroids, the investigation report said. 

 

Already, an earlier study by the AP found that among 61,000 US college athletes, thousands exhibited unnatural weight gain – an indication of steroid use, the report noted. 

 

“The widespread doping practices are sustained by collusion between coaches and pharmaceutical companies, forming a critical link in the doping ecosystem”, it said. 

 

By the time American athletes reach the international stage, many are already addicted, the investigation concluded. 

 

The report cited American cyclist Lance Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France champion, as a prime example. He admitted that doping helped him for each of his seven Tour de France wins, by using EPO, human growth hormone, and diuretics. He also admitted to falsifying documents saying he passed drug tests, according to media reports. 

 

The Yuyuantantian report disclosed that his team manager and doctor were complicit in the scheme, and team doctors fabricated his illnesses to justify the “legal” use of drugs. 

 

And this was, by no means, a rare incident! 

The US government are the most influential manipulator behind the scenes, the investigation report said. On the global stage, they leveraged their power to protect US athletes, often ensuring they avoid testing to gain an unfair advantage. 

 

In addition, the US Olympic Committee frequently “overlook” such actions, leading to widespread abuse of substances like testosterone, it revealed. According to media reports, US athletes applied for Therapeutic Use Exemptions (TUEs) – legalized doping, if you ask me – at a rate more than ten times that of other countries. 

 

Industry insiders have revealed that in the lead-up to the Paris Olympic Games, the US deliberately sought to stir up controversy around Chinese doping allegation by rehashing unsubstantiated reports from three years ago. This move was intended to disrupt the Chinese team’s preparations and even attempted to disqualify Chinese athletes. 

 

The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed on Friday that related reports from the US have led to the excessive anti-doping tests on the Chinese Olympic swimming team. [Kindly read my post "China's Swimmers Endure Envy and Enmity" published August 07, 2024].  

USA Admits to Bombshell Doping Tactics

The truth of the matter is that cheating happens in American sports. 

 

In fact, a Reuters story of August 07, 2024 has exposed a nefarious scheme whereby the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) allowed athletes who had doped, to compete for years, in at least one case without ever publishing or sanctioning their anti-doping rule violations, in direct contravention of the World Anti-Doping Code and USADA’s own rules. 

 

WADA revealed that USADA let drug cheats to keep competing if they become informants. And their athletes who took steroids and EPO were even allowed to retire with their good names – and prize money – intact. 

 

What's more, USADA chief Travis Tygart (right) has defended the tactic and despite WADA’s objections, the Americans want to keep using it. 

 

WADA said the strategy was “in direct contravention of the World Anti-Doping Code” and “threatened the integrity of sporting competition”. 

 

“WADA did not sign off on this practice of permitting drug cheats to compete for years on the promise that they would try to obtain incriminating evidence against others”, they said in a statement. 

 

I also read an August 09 piece in Global Times that the US Embassy in China have been questioned after posting color-adjusted photos to celebrate US swimmers' success at the Paris Olympics. 

 

The embassy on Thursday updated their official Sina Weibo post to congratulate the US swimming team on their achievements at the Paris Olympics. 

 

FYI, Team USA snared 28 swimming medals – eight gold, thirteen silver and seven bronze. 

 

However, the post has sparked controversy as many Chinese netizens noticed that the photos of the US swimmers' faces had been "color-adjusted", making the athletes' purple faces look more normal. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some of the US swimmers had previously drawn attention for their abnormally purple faces after the races, which led to widespread suspicion that the US swimmers had been under the effect of certain drugs.

 

China's National Health Commission's rehabilitation therapist Luo Chaofan told the Global Times that during high-intensity sports, the body's demand for oxygen increases significantly. If athletes cannot replenish oxygen in time, it can lead to tissue hypoxia, resulting in a purple face. 

 

"This condition is usually temporary and can quickly be resolved once the athlete rests and adjusts their breathing", Luo noted. However, the American swimming team remained purple even during the awards ceremony.

 

The limited number of doping tests conducted on American athletes has also raised concerns. Some argue that while the American team cites intense training as the reason for fewer tests, this does raise issues of fairness. 

 

The US Embassy's perplexing action has become a hot topic. The edited photos have raised suspicions and led to a debate on social media platforms, with many Chinese netizens questioning the authenticity of the images and the transparency of the athletes' performance. 

 

"Isn't this an attempt to cover something up?" some Chinese netizens asked on social media. 

 

And they had posted a comparison between the images posted by the US embassy and the original images posted by the BBC and other media outlets.

 

 

Olympic Swimmers Swear By Coke

Olympic swimmers, some of the healthiest people on the planet, swear by Coke! 

 

A fair number of them are turning to an unlikely, unscientific solution to ward off getting sick from competing in the polluted waters of the Seine in Paris, France: drinking cans of Coke. 

 

“The myth of Coca-Cola is true”, Moesha Johnson (right) of Team Australia, said. “We will often have a Coca-Cola afterward just to try to flush out anything inside of us”.

 

Top swimmers swear by the stuff to prevent infection, according to athletes of three teams who spoke with The Wall Street Journal. 

 

“There’s no harm in drinking a Coke after a race”, New Zealand’s Ainsley Thorpe (left) said, after the Women’s Triathlon last week. “If you Google it, it says it can help”.  

 

That strategy, which swimmers from the US, New Zealand, and Italy all discussed with the paper, may not be scientifically sound, even if it’s popular. 

 

Dr Maria Abreu, president of the American Gastroenterological Association, told WSJ that Coke is less acidic than a healthy stomach, meaning it likely wouldn’t add any infection-fighting power.

 

FYI, the Olympians have also been taking cocktails of probiotics before and after their races to combat the polluted river in Paris.

 

Water quality in the Seine has been a persistent concern in Paris so far. Swimming in the river has largely been prohibited for the last century because it’s way too toxic. Despite French officials spending $1.5 billion on infrastructure improvements ahead of the games, including to make the Seine cleaner, issues have persisted. 

 

A  test run of the marathon swim course in the Seine was postponed on Tuesday over concerns about water quality, though the triathlon mixed relay went ahead as planned the day before. 

 

Last week, Belgium pulled its team from the mixed relay event after an athlete who previously swam in the river got sick, and a swimmer for Switzerland also missed the competition due to illness. 

 

The IOC should know better that swimming the Seine is never a good idea. 

 

“I would never have selected the Seine”, Davey Jones, professor of Environmental science and public health at Bangor University, told BBC Science Focus. “I know it’s iconic, but it also runs through a hugely urbanised area which is always a recipe for disaster when it comes to potential exposure to chemicals or biological pathogens”.

 

You should know too that other athletes treat the soda like an energy drink to help restore some of the sugar lost while competing, as a 12-ounce can contains 39 grams of the sweet stuff, or nearly 10 teaspoons.

 

“My coach advised me to [drink Coca-Cola] to restore those glycogen levels immediately”, American Katie Grimes (left) told the outlet. “Not Diet Coke, just straight up Coke. Nothing does it better than that”.

 

Henry Miller, American novelist, short story writer and essayist is spot on when he says: "Without a Coca-Cola, life is unthinkable".

China's Swimmers Endure Envy and Enmity

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On July 31, 2024, China's Pan Zhanle glided past an accomplished pool of swimmers to take the gold medal in the men's 100m freestyle, with a record-smashing time of 46.40 seconds, more than a full second ahead of Australia's silver and Romania's bronze medal winners, i.e. 47.48 seconds and 47.49 seconds respectively.

 

Four days later, Pan and fellow swimmers (Xu Jiayu, Qin Haiyang and Sun Jiajun) not only won gold but they ended the United States’ decades-long reign in the men’s 4x100 meters medley at the Olympics. They finished the relay in a time of 3 minutes and 27.46 seconds versus the US time of 3 minutes and 28.01 seconds. France came in third with a time of 3 minutes and 28.38 seconds.

 

Twenty-two minutes later, the Chinese women's team clinched the bronze in the same event with a time of 3 minutes and 53.23 seconds.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the subsequent award ceremonies, the swimmers from different countries gathered on the podium to celebrate and take selfies, marking the end of the swimming competition at the Paris 2024 Olympics. Despite the smiles and flashing cameras, a smear campaign against the Chinese quickly bubbled over.

 

Australian Olympian-turned swimming coach Brett Hawke questioned the legitimacy of Pan Zhanle's feat, claiming the world record time was "not humanly possible".

 

Swimmer Adam Peaty whose UK relay team finished fourth in the said 4x100m medley – their timing: 3:29.60 – hit out at cheating Chinese swimmers.

 

And a July 30 article by The New York Times, which quoted two anonymous sources "with direct knowledge of the matter", as saying that two Chinese swimmers "tested positive in 2022 for a banned steroid" including one who was named to be in the Olympic team in Paris. It viciously hinted that the swimmer used drugs and was unqualified for the ongoing Olympics.

 

These parties are desperately eager to pounce on any opportunity to disparage Chinese swimmers by linking them to doping and in the process, maliciously smear China's credibility and reputation.

 

The international governing body for swimming, World Aquatics, had even been obliged to highlight that China's 31 swimmers in Paris had been the most tested athletes at the Paris Olympics, with each being tested an average of 21 times since January 01, which was the highest among the eight largest national swimming delegations. The number was significantly higher compared to the average of six times for American swimmers, four times for Australian swimmers and five times for Italian swimmers, World Aquatics revealed on July 23.

 

 

And Pau Gasol, a member of the IOC Athletes' Commission, said the high frequency of doping tests that Chinese swimmers have been subjected to had been "unfortunate".

 

Persistent doping tests conducted "7 times a day" were definitely to blame for China's subpar performance in the pool, China's diving star Gao Min had said.

 

Catherine Ordway, an associate professor of sport at the University of Canberra and an anti-doping expert said no one had challenged Australian swimmers in Paris when they broke Olympic records, and that no country should subject foreign athletes to a level of scrutiny "that we would find completely repugnant and unacceptable for ourselves".

 

An insider told the Global Times that China has maintained a strict stance against doping violations, with an enforcement rigor that is arguably the highest in the world and recognized internationally as a high standard. China's punitive measures are also unique, involving severe administrative penalties for those who violate doping regulations. It can be said that China has been genuinely committed to anti-doping efforts over the years.

 

Between 2014-2016, there was a stark increase in applications for therapeutic use exemption (TUE) with 63% of those issued being to just 3 countries: USA, Australia and France. It must be said that China's requests for TUEs are notably few. This is also largely because doping has long been a zero-tolerance issue in China, the insider noted.

 

The anti-China tactic by Westerners, supposedly shrouded in a veneer of concern for fair play, appears more like a Machiavellian move to undermine China's sporting achievements. 

 

The West are disgusting as well as they are pathetic!