(ATR) London 2012 confirms no refunds are coming for the ticketholders who witnessed Tuesday night’s "depressing" display of badminton by four women’s doubles pairs accused of tanking.
LOCOG chair Sebastian Coe characterized the play as both "unacceptable" and "depressing" in a press briefing Wednesday morning, informing reporters that he had actually been at Wembley Arena earlier Tuesday for some "incredibly competitive" matches.
It’s still unclear whether the eight players in question – from China, South Korea and Indonesia – will appear in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.
A morning meeting of the Badminton World Federation’s disciplinary committee is expected to decide their fate with the BWF refusing to comment until the hearing is done.
"Not using one’s best efforts to win a match" and "conducting oneself in a manner that is clearly abusive or detrimental to the sport" are both against the BWF’s code of conduct.
Asked whether LOCOG would consider giving ticketholders their money back, CEO Paul Deighton said "we won’t be refunding" and later added that these weren’t just "one-off" matches but instead an entire session of play.
IOC communications director Mark Adams refused to speculate about whether the players would be kicked out of the Games, insisting everyone "wait and see" what comes out of Wednesday’s hearing.
Adams added that the IOC has "good reassurances" from the BWF that its new format for the Olympic tournaments will work.
Instead of knockout-rounds from the get-go, as in Games past, London 2012 features pool play in the beginning, a scenario that yielded Tuesday’s dead-rubber matches in which the pairs were jockeying for more favorable draws.
According to Adams, who applauded the BWF’s clause mandating "best efforts" from players, the display of badminton on offer was "unacceptable" and disappointing, but the IOC is still a "long, long, long" way from even thinking about dropping the sport from the Olympic program.
China Clears Ye Shiwen’s Doping Suspicions
Chinese swimmer Ye Shiwen denies she used performance-enhancing drugs Tuesday after claiming two swimming golds with a new world record and an Olympic record.
The 16-year-old is one of the stars of the Games so far after claiming 400 meter IM gold with an unbelievable speed in her final 50 meters, sparking doping allegations worldwide.
However, Ye confirmed that she was "absolutely not" using drugs to achieve a good result on Tuesday after winning her second gold in the 200 meter IM and smashing the Olympic records twice.
"I think those speculations are unfair to me because I have been training very hard and all of my hard works have been paid off after reaching those results," Ye told a news conference after her 200m IM win.
"In other countries, other swimmers have won multiple golds and nobody has said anything.
"How come people criticize me just because I have won multiple golds?" she asked.
China’s delegation to the Games also released a statement on Wednesday supporting Ye's innocence.
"China has not found any problems after accepting nearly 100 doping tests," reads the statement. "It is unfair to connect dopping with a good result.
"The breakthrough of Chinese swimming comes from hard works and effectively training."
What has caused the world to question Ye was that she swam the final lap of her freestyle leg in the 400IM (in 28.93 sec) faster than men's champion Ryan Lochte (29.10 sec) and even faster than Michael Phelps.
The manager of the Chinese swimming team also claimed that Ye's success was predictable.
"Ye Shiwen winning the gold was something we expected, and not worthy of surprise. Her level of training is very high," Xu Qi, the team leader of the Chinese team, told media. "We are very excited, but it wasn’t unexpected."
Xu said it was unfair to compare Ye's closing sprint with Lochte's because she was swimming in a closely fought race and had to close a gap on other opponents, while Lochte had a more comfortable lead on the last leg.
There has been no evidence that Ye used a performance-enhancing substance.
Colin Moynihan, the chairman of the British Olympic Association, confirmed on Tuesday that Ye has passed an official doping test.
"As far as Ye is concerned, we know how on top of the game WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) are and they passed her as clean," he said.
"That's the end of the story," he added.
"All Are Happy" Says Rogge
IOC president Jacques Rogge tells Around the Rings athletes and broadcasters are thrilled with the way the Games are going so far.
"I have been to the Olympic Village and met with the athletes," Rogge told ATR late Tuesday at Korea House on the sidelines of London 2012.
"I have met with the broadcasters and all are happy," he added.
Regarding rumors of doping by Chinese swimming star Ye Shiwen, the IOC president told ATR, "I think it’s unfair. There has to be a presumption of innocence that is respected."
Rogge was appearing at a "Korea Night" event at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in Knightsbridge.
"South Korea has contributed in a major way to the success of the Olympic Movement," he told attendees in a speech.
"Your athletes have already won seven medals at these Games. In all, total Summer and Winter Games, 233 medals. But you are not only famous for your athletes, you are famous for the quality of your sports organization."
South Korea will host its first Winter Games in PyeongChang come 2018.
Pistorius Sets London Target
South African 400m sprinter Oscar Pistorius wants to make the semi-finals of the 400m, improving on his performance from the 2011 athletics world championships in Daegu.
The first double-amputee to compete at the Olympics finished second-to-last in the semi-finals last year and the 4x400m relay team won silver.
"If I can place better in the semi-final, I’d be happy," he told reporters Wednesday of his individual goals.
"I’ve run so many relays since 2004 in so many legs. Whichever format our team management thinks is fit , I’ll run in that leg.
He added that he has high hopes for London.
"My highlight so far was Beijing. I’m here to run in London. Hopefully, in two months I can look back at this experience, and it can be the highlight of my career."
He declined to label himself either an Olympian or Paralympian.
"I think whilst I’m at the Olympics, I view myself as an Olympian and whilst I’m at the Paralympics I’ll view myself as a Paralympian," he said.
"I’m a 400m specialist, I’m a South African athlete, that’s the way I view my career."
Pistorius shrugged off one slightly embarrassing question Wednesday. A Russian reporter asked about rumors he was romantically linked to Russian supermodel Anastassia Khozissova. He laughed off the suggestion, saying "I don’t have a relationship with her, we’re just friends."
IOC Members Hand Out Medals
Spotted on Tuesday at North Greenwich Arena were IOC members Habib Macki of Oman, Aicha Garad of Djibouti and Angela Ruggiero of the U.S.
The trio was charged with handing out medals after the women’s team event in artistic gymnastics.
Romania took bronze, Russia silver and the U.S. its first team gold since the so-called "Magnificent Seven" in 1996.
Reported by Matthew Grayson,Ed Hula III and Norman Li of Tencent
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