Now, there's a possibility that these street-cleaning trucks use something more than water to clean the streets, some kind of chemical spray, perhaps, that cleans concrete better than... rainwater. (If that's the case, I'm never biking near these things again.)
Otherwise... no, we don't get this, either.
A Ye Shiwen ad on CCTV-5 preceded the race. Coming off the block in the fourth lane, she appeared to emerge from the water and break into the butterfly too early, but she was still in first place coming off the turn. She was barely in first after the backstroke, but slipped to third after... Read more »
You don't need to know Chinese to appreciate this video (though the subtitles by chnnewsengsub are appreciated).
Wu Jingbiao, the two-time reigning World Weightlifting Championships gold-medalist, was the favorite to win on Sunday, and would have if not for North Korean Om Yun Chol's perfect day. In his post-lift interview, Wu was inconsolable. “I feel terribly guilty for disappointing my country, the Chinese weightlifting team and all the people who supported me," he said. "I really wanted to be the best but I didn’t make it. I am sorry!"
While we all await Ye Shiwen’s next race — she’s the top qualifier (and Olympic record-holder) in the 200-meter individual medley, which begins at 8:43 pm London time / 3:43 am Beijing time — you might be interested to know that women’s gymnastics is on right now. Other Olympics stuff happened too, as you’ll see... Read more »
We’re at the point where Ye Shiwen can no longer be found guilty in China, if that makes sense. This issue has become about more than swimming. If it ever does come to light that Ye used a banned substance, I suspect the relevant organs will find a scapegoat who admits that he accidentally put... Read more »
UPDATE, 6:19 pm: The Ku6 video has been pulled, but you can watch the full race on Sina here if you’re within mainland China (they don’t allow embedding). All eyes will be on Ye Shiwen tonight (8:43 pm London, 3:43 am Beijing) when she competes in the 200-meter individual medley (she set an Olympic record... Read more »
The buildup is long and strange, but it’s full of wonder and intrigue. Why is the old man’s pants unbuckled? Why is he surrounded by three much younger urban enforcement officers, i.e. chengguan? Why does one of the officers appear to have a ripped shirt? Why does the old man taunt them, saying, “Come on,... Read more »
Ye Shiwen, the 16-year-old swimmer who set a new world record on Saturday in the 400-meter individual medley, has been accused of cheating. The Guardian’s Andy Bull, who on Sunday published a very interesting and insightful account of Ye’s swim and the reactions to it and her teammates (“Over the course of the 1990s [China] had... Read more »
