Authorities deemed the 15-year-old a “protected person” who is not responsible for her actions. But no one protected her, or her teammates, from an abusive system that resulted in a doping scandal.
BEIJING — And finally, after the worst week of her life culminated in the worst performance of her life, after she became the face of a problem she did not cause, after an eye chart’s worth of international organizations took her to court, after every adult around her failed her, the teenager listened, weeping, as her coach yelled at her.
“Why did you let it go?