Olympic champ Wang Meng injured after brawl
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Xinhua, July 28, 2011
Olympic champion Wang Meng has been back to the summer training camp for the Chinese short track speed skating team based in Qingdao after being hospitalized last Sunday for hand injuries she suffered during a brawl with team manager.
No more than 50 days after the Turin and Vancouver Winter Olympic gold medalist was involved in a scrimmage in Lijiang, Southwest China last June, Wang was again caught in disgrace, and drunk too.
Late on Sunday night, Wang Meng, accompanied with another Olympic gold medalist Zhou Yang, as well as teammates Liu Qiuhong, Liu Xianwei, Han Jialiang and Liang Wenhao, returned to the camp drunk, and she was harshly reproved by team manager Wang Chunlu.
The conflict soon turned physical as Wang Meng punched Wang Chunlu as the team manager accused her of violating team rules. Liu Xianwei was also involved.
Some of the coaching staff pulled the two sides apart. The bad- tempered Wang Meng continued to smash furniture in her dormitory room and was accidentally injured in both of her hands.
The 26-year-old was then sent to hospital for treatment and got 10 stitches.
Four days after the brawl, there's still no one involved who could be reached for comments.
According to an anonymous source from China's State Sport General Administration, officials of the sport's governing body have departed Wednesday from Beijing to Qingdao to probe into the incident.
Earlier in June, Wang Meng had put herself in another dispute in Lijiang while she and some other short track skaters, who were attending a two-month summer camp at the popular tourism destination in Yunnan Province, celebrated the Dragon Boat Day at a local pub.
Wang and Zhou posted angry words and pictures in their micro-blogs, saying the team got beaten up by local security guards and their injured teammates were met with indifferent doctors in a local hospital. Reports said about 10 athletes were hurt in the brawl.
But local police said after an investigation that the athletes unknowingly violated Lijiang Protection Regulations by making too much noise and singing after midnight, which caused the security guards to step in.
Under the intervention of China's Winter Sports Administrative Center and Lijiang government, Wang and her teammates later offered to make reconciliation.
The Lijiang incident, however, raised wide criticism of the spoiled skaters' moral level.
The short track speed skating team won China four gold medals at the Vancouver Winter Olympic Games last year with Wang Meng having three to her name.
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