Alicia Coutts London Olympics 2012 silver medal (Twitter:benfordham)

Alicia Coutts said she accepts placing second to Chinese Ye Shiwen at the London Olympics, as Ye was the better swimmer.

"I came into these Games saying to myself, 'I know how hard I've worked and how much effort I've put in there over the last few years... If it wasn't good enough to win a gold medal then I have 100 per cent respect for whoever goes out there and beats me,'" Coutts told the AAP.

Ye has recently confronted doubts against her gold wins. Speaking in a news conference following her 200m IM win, the young Chinese swimming champion said:

"In other countries, other swimmers have won multiple golds and nobody has said anything... How come people criticise me just because I have won multiple golds?"

The 16-year-old directly answered a straightforward question on whether she used performance-enhancing substances.

"Absolutely not," she said.

'Innocent until proven guilty'

Coutts had elaborately spoke of her opinion on Ye's triumph.

"As far as I'm concerned she's innocent and I think she's an amazing swimmer and it's just amazing to be as close as I was," Coutts said.

But Coutts is aware of the doubts being cast upon Ye. In reaction to the doubts, she said: "I like to believe in innocent until proven guilty."

Every Olympian color for Coutts

Coutts now has all the colors of glory in Olympian swimming. She won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay with Cate Campbell, Brittany Elmslie and Melanie Schlanger on the first night of London Olympics. She won a bronze in the 100m butterfly, and became the 8th fastest of all time. Then she got a silver against Ye in the 200m individual medley.

Last year, Coutts took silver medals in the 100m butterfly and 200m medley and a bronze medal for the butterfly leg of the medley relay.

Coutts tweets thanks

Using her @Alicia_Coutt Twitter account, Coutts expressed appreciation for her well-wishers Tuesday night (London Time).

"Thanks to all my followers for their amazing support and well wishes. Been a big night and I'm finally off to bed :)"