The bias shown against non-Western athletes who have performed well exposes the hypocrisy of anti-doping standards, according to French experts, who cited the historical examples where competitors from the United States were not punished after testing positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
Recent reports have revealed that the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) has been allowing athletes who have violated doping regulations to go undercover and keep on competing in exchange for information of other violators, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) issuing a statement declaring this practice as a blatant violation of both the WADA code and the USADA's own regulations.
With the controversy coming to light while the now-concluded Paris Olympics were taking place, the debate threatened to overshadow the sporting action in the French capital.
Veteran sports doctor Jean Pierre de Mondenard, who has over half a century of experience in anti-doping efforts, said there has been a history of drugs misuse by American athletes and noted a widespread problem back in the 1980s, when U.S. athletes were heavily using stimulants. He cited the infamous example of sprinter Carl Lewis, who was allowed to keep his 100m gold at the Seoul Olympics 36 years ago despite having tested positive for a banned substance on three occasions, which came after the original winner Ben Johnson of Canada was stripped of the title for a doping violation.
"The United States invented anabolic steroids at that time. In the training center in the U.S., there was a big bowl full of colorful pills in the locker room, and the athletes took a bunch of them. That's why they dominate the world in throwing events and in track and field events: they were all taking anabolic steroids. In 1988, Carl Lewis tested positive three times before the Seoul Olympics, but he was not punished. He gave the excuse that he 'accidentally took the product.' The Americans covered it up. This is common," he said.
The issue over apparent double standards was thrust into the spotlight just prior to the start of the Paris Games, when World Aquatics, the governing body of global water sports, revealed that anti-doping organizations had tested each Chinese swimmer an average of 21 times since the start of the year, compared to an average of just six times for American swimmers and four times for Australians.
Amid the highly competitive sporting environment, Western countries see breakthroughs made by non-Western athletes as a threat against their own dominance, and therefore question these achievements, exposing a widespread and unfair bias against other successful competitors, a sports and political expert from a French think tank said.
"In Western countries, there is a tendency among politicians and public opinion to stigmatize athletes from non-Western countries who perform very well. This means that when non-Western athletes perform well, they are seen as a potential threat, and their performance is seen as so-called 'unnatural'," said Lukas Aubin, head of the Sport and Geopolitics Programme under French Institute for International and Strategic Affairs (IRIS).
Hypocrisy of anti-doping standards exposes bias against non-Western athletes: French experts
Hypocrisy of anti-doping standards exposes bias against non-Western athletes: French experts
A perseverant mother has been planting trees on the barren mountains in Qufu City, east China's Shandong Province, to realize the last wish of her young daughter who unfortunately passed away over a decade ago. The beloved daughter once told the mother that she aspired to turn their homeland into a greener place during her lifetime.
Shu Ping, a 70-year-old retired teacher, has been planting trees on the barren mountains for 15 years. Covering an area of over 1,300 square kilometers and nicknamed "Norwegian Wood," the bioenergy plantation came from a promise between Shu and her daughter -- Yu Juan.
"After my daughter earned her master's degree, her university selected her for a two-year government-sponsored study program in Norway. She invited me to stay with her for over two months. She asked me, 'What is the best thing here?' and 'Where is the most beautiful place?' Just mother-daughter chitchat. I said, 'Norway's forests are amazing. They are so beautiful.' And she replied, 'If they are so beautiful, let's bring them back to our hometown in Shandong!' 'Great idea!' I said and we high-fived and it was settled," Shu recalled.
Yu Juan, Shu's daughter, had strong interest in botanical research since childhood. After graduating from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, she was admitted to Fudan University's combined master-doctoral program. Upon completing her master's degree, she earned a government-sponsored scholarship to pursue further studies at the University of Oslo in Norway.
Returning to China in 2007 after completing her academic studies in Norway, Yu, driven by her vision to make her homeland more beautiful and improve the lives of local farmers, signed a contract to manage over 1,300 square kilometers of barren hills in Qufu, beginning the program of her oil-bearing bioenergy plantation.
The program will create a specialized forest system designed to produce biodiesel and substitutes for chemicals by exploiting the oils extracted from the trees and their seeds.
Unfortunately, Yu's efforts came to an abrupt halt two years later, when she was diagnosed with advanced breast cancer at the age of 31.
After battling with cancer for over one year, Yu passed away in 2011, leaving her unrealized dream to her mother.
"I am doing what my daughter aspired to do and I am doing better than she could have imagined. I think that is what she deserves," Shu said.
In reality, the dream was hard to realize and Shu's first large-scale tree-planting efforts failed, leaving no more than 30 percent of the 400,000 saplings alive.
The perseverant mother was not defeated and after realizing that the soil and water conditions on the barren mountains are harsh, she began consulting experts and studying seedling cultivation techniques. Gradually, the survival rate of the saplings started to rise.
Besides, Shu also confronted challenges like uneven roads and exposure to sharp gravels as she works in mountainous regions.
"One time, the path under my foot was slippery with gravels and pebbles scattered everywhere. I tried to grab anything within the reach, but in the darkness, I grabbed something cold and slippery. It felt like a snake, so I let go of it and tumbled down, twisting my ankle," Shu recalled.
The lack of funding also troubled Shu's program with the costs, including land lease fees, seedlings, and labor, drained her family's savings in just a few years.
"The financial burden is the most challenging problem. If you want to plant more trees, you have to spend hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of U.S. dollars). At least, about 200,000 to 300,000 yuan (around 27,500 to 40,000 U.S. dollars) is required a year," she said.
In 2019, when Shu's tree-planting program was on the verge of collapse, a 74-year-old man, who learned about Shu's story by chance, insisted on making donation.
The kindness of Liu Xianggui, who donated a total of over one million yuan (137,300 U.S. dollars) to Shu's program, marked the beginning of Shu's story being known to more and more people, who started to joint her efforts to help realize her daughter's last wish.
"I gradually get to know more and more volunteers through the tree-planting program, and they help me with contacting more people and inviting them to join us. I said I had a pact with Yu Juan, and we wanted to move Norway's forests to Shandong, and they said the program should be named 'Norwegian Wood', the 'Norwegian Wood' in China," Shu said.
Under her persistent efforts, the volunteer group has kept growing. Over the past decade, they have planted over 600,000 saplings on the barren mountains.
"Previously, I planted trees for my daughter and later I planted tree for everyone. There are so many people who have helped me and my daughter with the tree-planting program. I think about how I can give something back in return. I will do more good deeds, plant more trees, and lead the volunteers to plant more trees. Their joy is my joy," Shu said with pride.
Mother plants "Norwegian Wood" in China to realize last wish of her daughter
