Sir, – It would be more accurate for defenders of teenage Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen to state that her urine samples tested negative for banned substances rather than to pronounce that Ye is “clean”.
My objection to this terminology does not lie in any intrinsic belief that Ye has cheated. It lies, rather, in the limits of what a scientific process can legitimately conclude. A negative test proves only that nothing was found that exceeded the allowed limits for specific substances. It does not prove that these substances were not present yesterday, last week or last month.
Many athletes have been found to be “clean” who were later shown to have been part of comprehensive doping programmes. This is the sadness that underlies Ye’s performances – we can no longer believe in them automatically. – Yours, etc,
Sir, – I would encourage fellow sports lovers to log on to the official London 2012 Olympics website to learn more about our national Olympians.
While boxer Paddy Barnes was born in Belfast, GBR; cyclist Martyn Irvine hails from Newtownards, IRL; and, sailing athlete, James Espey, is from Bangor, IRL.
Truly, this great festival of sport can overcome all boundaries including, it would seem, tricky political ones. – Yours, etc,