Chinese and Americans began to fight after Shiwen Ye’s Trophy

A top US coach hinted at possible doping in the case of Ye, the 16-year-old who put in a lighting-quick freestyle leg in a world record 400m IM race.

But an outraged China camp says there’s no reason Ye can’t simply be the next Ian Thorpe or Michael Phelps.

“Michael Phelps won eight gold medals at the Beijing Games, and American swimmer Missy Franklin is also incredible,” the swim chief, Xu Qi, told Xinhua news agency this morning.

“Why can’t China have a talented swimmer?”

Earlier, John Leonard, executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, told The Guardian that the 16-year-old’s freestyle leg in her IM swim was simply “impossible”.

“The one thing I will say is that history in our sport will tell you that every time we see something, and I will put quotation marks around this, ‘unbelievable’, history shows us that it turns out later on there was doping involved,” Leonard told the British newspaper.

“That last 100m was reminiscent of some old East German swimmers, for people who have been around a while.

“It was reminiscent of the 400m individual medley by a young Irish woman in Atlanta.”

Leonard was referring to Michelle de Bruin, who emerged as a triple gold-medallist at the 1996 Games (where she competed under maiden name Smith) but was banned for four years in 1998 for tampering with a urine sample.

“Any time someone has looked like superwoman in the history of our sport they have later been found guilty of doping,” he said, adding: “I have been around swimming for four-and-a-half decades now.

“If you have been around swimming you know when something has been done that just isn’t right. I have heard commentators saying ‘well she is 16, and at that age amazing things happen’. Well yes, but not that amazing. I am sorry.”

Up to 6250 blood and urine samples will be tested during the London Games – the most ever.

The Anti-Doping workforce said one in two athletes would be tested during the competition, as well as every medallist.

Olympic anti-doping crusaders have also introduced a major development in using intelligence to crack down on doping at the London Games.

The new investigation methods include briefing Olympic cleaners, security and event staff to alert anti-doping authorities of any evidence of drug use.

Albanian weightlifter Hysen Pulaku and Uzbek gymnast Luiza Galiulina have tested positive for banned substances so far at London 2012, while St Kitts and Nevis sprinter Tameka Williams admitted to taking a banned substance.

“We never questioned Michael Phelps when he bagged eight gold medals in Beijing.”

China’s anti-doping chief has hit back at “biased” suspicions about the extraordinary triumph of the teenage gold medallist Ye Shiwen.

“I think it is not proper to single Chinese swimmers out once they produce good results. Some people are just biased,” Jiang Zhixue, who leads anti-doping work at China’s General Administration of Sport, told the state news agency Xinhua.

“We never questioned Michael Phelps when he bagged eight gold medals in Beijing.”

Chinese internet users have also reacted angrily to doubts about the 16-year-old swimmer’s stunning performance, accusing sceptics of jealousy or bitterness because their own countries are not performing as well.

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