A diplomatic storm was brewing last night over Olympic swimming sensation Ye Shiwen.

The Chinese 16-year-old was forced to deny using drugs after a respected US coach called her gold medal-winning performance ‘unbelievable’.

But her defiant pledge that the world record-breaking swim on Saturday – which saw her outpace the winner of the men’s event – came purely from ‘hard work and training’ failed to defuse a doping controversy gripping London 2012.

John Leonard, the US executive director of the World Swimming Coaches Association, described Saturday’s swim by ‘Supergirl’ Miss Ye – who last night broke the Olympic record in another event – as ‘unbelievable’ and ‘disturbing’.

He also made the extraordinary suggestion that the Chinese could be using genetic manipulation to enhance performances.

His claims came as anti-doping officials revealed that cleaners and security staff have been asked to spy on athletes in the Olympic Village and report anything suspicious that could be linked to performance-enhancing drugs.But Mr Leonard compared the final 100m swum by Miss Ye as being ‘reminiscent’ of some old East German swimmers, several of whom were subsequently exposed for using performance-enhancing drugs.

Pressed on the use of drugs she told the China News Service last night: ‘There is absolutely no problem with doping. The Chinese have always had a firm policy about doping. My results come from hard work and training and I would never use any banned drugs. The Chinese people have clean hands.’

As a gold medal winner, Miss Ye will have been automatically drug-tested. The first four in each race are routinely tested.

【新聞快訊】

自從打破女子400米混合泳世界紀(jì)錄后，中國小將葉詩文這幾日除了收到各方的祝福外，她的神奇速度也遭到外媒過度“詢問”，30日她在新聞發(fā)布會上表示，“我的成績來源于勤奮和訓(xùn)練，不會使用任何禁藥，中國人是清白的?！?/p>

查閱這幾日的世界主流媒體，對于中國人在倫敦泳池中掀起的“巨浪”頗為驚嘆，他們不解為什么中國選手突破如此之快，到底什么原因造就了孫楊和葉詩文。就連中國記者也成了他們的采訪對象，他們渴望了解中國運(yùn)動員的一切，例如祖籍、生活習(xí)慣、訓(xùn)練方式以及有沒有男女朋友.……

30日上午的女子200米個人混合泳預(yù)賽，因為葉詩文的參賽，這個項目成了各國記者最關(guān)注的焦點。早些完成比賽的菲爾普斯則淪為“配角”，他只被記者問了三個問題就草草收場，而對葉詩文的提問，則多達(dá)數(shù)十個。

有美聯(lián)社記者問，“你的成績?yōu)槭裁纯?？”葉詩文平靜地說，“可能是之前的訓(xùn)練比較好，體能儲備充足，加上對奧運(yùn)會的渴望，讓我超越了自己的極限?！?/p>

“那你可以談?wù)勛约旱纳顔?？?/p>

“你的人生除了游泳還有什么？”

“你在海外訓(xùn)練得到了什么？”

記者鋪天蓋地追問，讓葉詩文有些應(yīng)接不暇，“其實我很普通，我有自己的生活方式，例如訓(xùn)練之外，可能會看電視，聽音樂，出去玩，干一些喜歡的事?！?/p>

“尤其在澳大利亞訓(xùn)練對我的體能和訓(xùn)練方式有很大幫助，例如出發(fā)以及轉(zhuǎn)身等，”葉詩文說，“本來喜歡這個項目，很熱愛，所以挺享受‘苦中作樂’的。”

這位美聯(lián)社記者還問道，“中國運(yùn)動員90年代出現(xiàn)過使用興奮劑的問題，對于你這個十幾歲的小女孩一下子打破世界紀(jì)錄，人們都在懷疑，你怎么回應(yīng)？”

葉詩文直視對方說，“我們的運(yùn)動員只堅信一點，堅決反對興奮劑，堅決不用興奮劑?！?/p>

她還請中國記者轉(zhuǎn)告給外國同行，“我想讓他們‘放心’，中國人是清白的?！?