Chinese track darling Wu Yanni’s reinstatement into the 100m hurdles final after a clear false start smacks of external pressure – and undermines China’s efforts to present an impressive show to the world.

Let me start with some important context. I have been very impressed by the ongoing Asian Games in Hangzhou. The organization, as expected, has been flawless. The thousands of volunteers have gone above and beyond to be friendly and helpful. The 80,000-seater Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Stadium, designed in the shape of a lotus flower, looks fantastic both inside and out. I was in attendance there last night and the atmosphere from the capacity crowd was as good as I’ve experienced at a sporting event in China. It was the perfect evening for what should have been some great performances from Chinese athletes on China’s national day, October 1. And yet, here we are talking something completely different – and totally avoidable.