In the summer of 2008, Beijing was filled with joy as Chen Xialia won the championship, lifting the spirits of the nation. However, eight years later, she was stripped of her gold medal due to the use of banned substances. So, how did this gold medal become tainted?
From a barren village to the pinnacle of the Olympics
At the age of nine, Chen Xialia entered the sports school life, undergoing intense training in horse stance, tightly gripping a weighted bamboo pole to maintain balance, a painful experience that only she could truly understand.
Initially, she had a thin physique and appeared weak. The intensity of the training clearly exceeded her limits, leading everyone to believe that she would soon give up.
However, things gradually changed. Her physical fitness began to improve, and her movements became increasingly proficient. This contrasted sharply with her initial performance, leaving coaches and peers in disbelief. They never expected that this seemingly fragile girl could burst forth with such astonishing strength and endurance.
But it cannot be denied that teenage girls yearn for slender figures, yet weightlifting training made her stronger and stronger.
This body type, which contradicts mainstream social aesthetics, filled her heart with contradictions and self-doubt.
Is it worth continuing on this arduous path of weightlifting?
Just as she was about to give up, the Bayi Team extended an olive branch to her. After joining the Bayi Team, she faced even greater challenges and pressures. Thus, she began to train even harder, striving to overcome the numerous difficulties in both body and mind.
Gradually, Chen Xialia's strength began to show. In various competitions, her results steadily improved, and coaches began to take notice of this tenacious girl.
During a national competition, she won the championship in her category, greatly enhancing her self-confidence.
In 2006, Chen Xialia's career reached an important turning point.
The Shining Moment of the Olympic Gold Medal
In 2006, after winning the national championship, she was selected for the national team based on her outstanding performance. Here, she would train and compete with the best athletes in the country, vying for the opportunity to represent the nation in international competitions.
Just one year later, Chen Xialia experienced a significant leap in her life within a short span of a year. She received a call-up from the national team and was about to embark on a journey to Thailand to participate in the world championships held there. This was not only her first appearance on the international stage but also a crucial battle on her way to the Olympic arena.
Facing such an important event, Chen Xialia inevitably felt nervous. During pre-competition training, she repeatedly made mistakes, which the coach expressed dissatisfaction with, severely criticizing her and pointing out that the pressure faced by world-class athletes far exceeded hers. This severe criticism, however, allowed Chen Xialia to shed her psychological burden, enabling her to focus more on the competition itself.
At the World Championships, she demonstrated her superior strength and stable performance, ultimately successfully winning the world championship titles in snatch, clean & jerk, and total score, earning unanimous praise from experts.
However, just as the 2008 Beijing Olympics were approaching, Chen Xialia suffered the biggest blow of her career—less than a month before the opening of the Olympics, she was unable to participate in the crucial test event due to a thigh strain.
But with the firm support of the principal leaders and her own tenacious efforts, Chen Xialia eventually gained the precious opportunity to participate in the Olympics.
On August 9, 2008, the second day of the Beijing Olympics, the Beihang Weightlifting Hall was packed, with all eyes focused on Chen Xialia.
In the women's 48kg final, she withstood immense pressure, displaying extraordinary strength and solid mental fortitude. In the final round, she delivered an outstanding performance with a total score of 212 kg, leaving other competitors far behind and successfully winning the gold medal, securing the first gold medal for the Chinese delegation at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
At that moment, the venue erupted, and the whole nation cheered for her.
However, no one could have anticipated that behind this glorious moment lay a secret that would only be revealed years later.
The Truth About Doping
In the summer of 2016, the sports world was shocked by news. The International Olympic Committee retested the urine samples of athletes from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and found problems with Chen Xialia's sample; she was found to have used banned substances.
This meant that the gold medal she won that year was not achieved through strength but with the aid of doping. The original glory turned into a stain that was difficult to wash away.
Doping has always been controversial in sports. The International Olympic Committee defines doping very strictly, considering any non-natural substance intake intended to enhance athletic performance as doping use. The list of prohibited drugs for the 2008 Beijing Olympics included hundreds of substances and methods that were banned.
The banned substances detected in Chen Xialia's sample belonged to anabolic agents and peptide hormones, substances capable of significantly increasing muscle strength and extending training time, thus favored by some athletes.
The International Olympic Committee retains the power to trace investigations, and even competitions from years ago can be re-examined if new testing technologies emerge.
In 2009, the World Anti-Doping Agency invented relevant testing technology, allowing previously undetectable new types of doping to be exposed. This explains why Chen Xialia's doping issue was only exposed after many years.
More sadly, Chen Xialia's main competitor, Turkish athlete Taylan, was also found to have used doping. If both had competed fairly, Chen Xialia still had a high chance of winning the gold medal based on her own strength.
On January 13, 2017, the International Olympic Committee confirmed again that Chen Xialia's doping violation was established, her competition results were cancelled, and the gold medal was reclaimed.
Thus, Chen Xialia's athletic career came to an end, and the once Olympic gold medal became a thing of the past. Afterwards, she faded from public view, as if she had never existed.
I believe
Although Chen Xialia's incident happened many years ago, the thoughts she left us with are still worth pondering. We hope that in the future sports arena, we can see more athletes who truly win by their abilities, allowing sports to return to its purity and making fair competition an eternal theme.