Chinese swimmer drug controversy recalls Michelle Smith - Irish Olympic gold medal winner got raw deal and still does
By: Daithí Ó Sé | Published Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 2:12 PM | Updated Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 2:12 PM
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| Michelle Smith |
The Olympics are in full swing these days. Actually it’s very hard to get away from them if you’re not a sports fan. The races are shot for TV especially swimming.
Controversy and suspicion are never too far from the doors of these games. Any sign of brilliance is questioned and this is wrong. We expect brilliance at the Olympics, that’s what they are there for.
I was watching the 16-year-old Ye Shiwen from China win the 200 and 400 meter races. She was outstanding; you know what this was one of the high points for me so far. To see her take off in the last 50 meters. This is what the Games are all about for me. This is the stage to do it on.
In the case of Ye Shiwen and many more in the public eye through some media you are guilty until proven innocent! This is very wrong and something needs to be done about, what I don’t know.
Michelle Smith left Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996 with three gold and one bronze medal. She passed all the tests and still to this day she’s left in the ha’penny place. More controversy followed two years later. Michelle still has her Olympic medals, which would suggest that she is innocent; also she didn’t break any Olympic or World records while obtaining them.
On the other side people were questioning and comparing her previous times to that of what she swam at the games. So why was she targeted? Was it jealousy from other swimmers? It’s hard to say! I did a TV show with Michelle Smith a few years back and got to know her.
She is a quiet and very unassuming person. We spoke of the 1996 Games and she told me that she was one of the fittest people in the Olympic village that year, and I believe her! She never showboated and only said how hard she had trained especially the year before. I told her how I saw grown men in Kruger’s pub in Dun Chaoin where I worked at the time cry when she won; she was very touched by this.
Do I believe Michelle Smith? Yes I do! But you can make up your own mind. She should have been part of the "Irish Olympic experience" if I can call it that, but no we were afraid to go there!
RTE sports broadcaster Bill O'Herlihy was in the papers here about some of his comments last week, when he referred to badminton as a sport played by Protestants in the 1950’s. There were some noses out of joint because of it. I went to find out who exactly was giving out and nobody seemed to know, but there was a lot of noise over nothing if you ask me. Big deal if it was mostly or even all if the case may be Protestants that played badminton at that time. You could say that is mostly Catholics that played Gaelic football then and now, would I be offended at this? Not in the slightest! It’s PC gone up the left at together.
I found the fact of what Bill said very interesting and took it in an historical context, the context in which it was meant I’d imagine. Just an added bit of trivia, I think Bill’s wife may belong to the Church of Ireland!
Something similar happen me the first year hosting the Rose of Tralee. I was on stage with Sarah Felong the Southern California Rose. She told me she was a celiac. I called her a fussy eater, jokingly. We received complaints the following day saying I was insensitive and that I shouldn’t be talking about a condition that I didn’t understand. The fact being my brother and niece both have this "condition" along with my wife.
To all celiac (fussy eaters) and not celiac Roses leaving the States and all over the world this week for Tralee, have a safe trip we are getting ready here for you!
14 Comments
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Switch to the desktop site to post a comment.crumdub | Aug 09, 2012, 10:26 AM EDT
Citizen69, Can you provide proof that Michelle Smith tested positive for PEDs ?? Or are you just making things up as you go along ??
citizen69 | Aug 06, 2012, 01:02 PM EDT
@cahalfinbarr: Phelps is swimming faster now than he was at 16 but my point is that at 27 he has passed his peak. He holds around 5 world records but i think his last world record performance was 3 years ago. Smith had absolutely no top class form right up until she was 26. It's highly suspicious that she should show such an improvement at that age, especially when 2 years later an unannounced surprise drug test at her home showed she performance enhancing drugs in her urine.
WoundedKnee | Aug 06, 2012, 04:16 AM EDT
"she tampered with her own urine by putting whiskey in it!" That proves nothing. If you tested lots of Irish people you'd find whiskey in their urine. Seanomel tests at 20% proof, for example, except for Sunday mornings, when he can hit 40%.
seanomelb | Aug 05, 2012, 07:36 PM EDT
Michelle smith a true Irish sport's heroine.
seanomelb | Aug 05, 2012, 06:52 PM EDT
I omitted a word in my last comment: I am reluctant to believe in absolute malice.....
seanomelb | Aug 05, 2012, 06:45 PM EDT
I know Michelle, and have good reason not to believe the accusations against her. The whole thing started with a frustrated American swimmer making allegations and Irish newspapers, especially Tom Humphries, picking it up. Pity. Can you imagine British papers downing one of their own on the basis of an allegation from a defeated contestant? Michelle won her medals fair and square, she still owns them. And as for the whiskey, well, I am reluctant to believe in absolute, but I am afraid that that is what it was. Michelle, as she has proved since, is an extremely intelligent young lady. She would know that whiskey would not obscure a drug. And all they found was the whiskey. I am really proud of how she fought the good fight and lost, and then went about her life with determination and skill. Long may she thrive.
misneac | Aug 05, 2012, 06:35 PM EDT
Michelle Smith has every bit as much creibility as an Olympic champion as does Carl Lewis or Linford Christie .Both the latter were later proven to have abused drugs !
cahalfinbarr | Aug 05, 2012, 06:34 PM EDT
We know that many (American) participants tested positive and were not charged. We know Michelle was hounded and tested on the way to the pool with negative results. All her fellow competitors who cast aspersions had faster times than Michelle perhaps they didn't reproduce their PBs because they were off drugs for the Olympics. FYI citizen69 there is no scientific basis for asserting that a swimmer should be better at 16 than at 26. I am fairly sure that Michael Phelps is swimming faster now than when he was 16.
BigDaddy | Aug 05, 2012, 06:25 PM EDT
There is hell of a difference between someone winning without setting records (maybe just a lackluster field?) and a "young girl" who smashes a world record by 5-7 seconds.( maybe doping?) Is it really so hard to understand why people would be curious? Records in swimming aren't smashed by a half dozen seconds, they are broken in hundredths of a second usually. Time will tell. Although a 16 year old female swimmer being faster than a gold medal winning male swimmer would draw attention what the venue.
citizen69 | Aug 05, 2012, 04:44 PM EDT
There is a hell of a difference with a 16 year old kid at the start of her career and a 26 year old woman thinking of retiring. At 27 Michael Phelps has retired from swimming yet we are to believe that Smith, a very average swimmer who should have been past her peak suddenly gave world beating performances after marrying a drug cheat discus thrower who became her coach? She was constantly hard to track down for random drug tests and when they called to her home she tampered with her own urine by putting whiskey in it!
WoundedKnee | Aug 05, 2012, 02:37 PM EDT
I seem to remember that Ms Smith was/is a fluent Irish speaker? Can anyone confirm that? In any case, the article is right. Michelle was abandoned and betrayed by many Irish. But then again treachery and betrayal are an old favorite trick of the Irish.
slainte9 | Aug 05, 2012, 02:16 PM EDT
I congratulate everyone who joins in the fight against the tyranny and oppression of the English language (which is useful as a communication technology, but needs a lot of improvement). Is fearr Gaelic bhriste na Bearla cliste (broken Irish is better than clever English)!
biggles008 | Aug 05, 2012, 12:14 PM EDT
Michelle Smith never broke a rule.She should get another medal for all the hardship they caused her. They never apologised to her.
DrTrelawney | Aug 05, 2012, 09:29 AM EDT
Could some sub please punctuate this so it reads just a little like English. "It’s PC gone up the left at together." What? "Big deal if it was mostly or even all if the case may be Protestants that played badminton at that time." Huh?