Qing Wenyi, a 17-year-old rising star in Chinese swimming, died early last week after collapsing during the night on a national team training camp.
The cause of the shocking death is still unknown, as Qing’s family reportedly refused an autopsy and Qing’s body was cremated.
Per the United Kingdom’s The Daily Mail, Qing screamed in the middle of the night loud enough to wake up her roommate on a Chinese National Team training camp in Beijing. This was late last Monday night, and after screaming, Qing collapsed. The roommate rushed to her side, but found the young swimmer unresponsive.
SwimVortex reports that Qing was rushed to the Tiantan Hospital, but could not be resuscitated.
Her body was cremated less than 48 hours later without any specifics on the cause of death being reported.
That mystery surrounding the cause of death has led both The Daily Mail and SwimVortex to report that Qing’s parents were allegedly pressured to forgo an autopsy, both quoting anonymous sources.
‘The death of Qing Wenyi and what appears to be the subsequent sweeping it under the carpet sounds alarm bells right at the heart of the system,’ a source told The Mail On Sunday.
‘This is not some rogue operator in the provinces. This is right at the heart of it, at a training camp with other kids which suggests absolutely old-style problems coming back. The parents were put under pressure to not have an autopsy.’
-The Daily Mail
SwimVortex reports that the death has caused “a wave of concern in the ranks of the Chinese swimming community, who are now calling on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to intervene.”
Qing won gold medals in the 100 and 200 breaststrokes at the first-ever Chinese Youth Swimming Championships.
Bizarre and suspicious. There should have been a forensic or coroner’s investigation. But the parents may have been intimidated, complicit, or bought off. Don’t forget this case if there are more unusually good unexpected swims among the Chinese in Rio next year.
Given what has NOW been confirmed by the IAAF and the Russian federation and state-sponsored doping, one can only wonder…
Seems legit