IOC investigation of age cheating by Chinese gymmasts

Parent Cafe
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<p>^exactly. I personally think when girls are undergrad, they just don’t have the long bodies to look more artistic and graceful.</p>

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<p>I’m a big believer in following the rules that you agreed to upon signing up. However, Shawn and Nastia were spectacular athletes and exemplary young women. I didn’t see any Chinese athletes that were their equal.</p>

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<p>Can you please clarify? Not their equal in gymnastic skills or everything else?</p>

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<p>Both, Sam Lee. In addition to performing their routines so well under pressure, Shawn and Nastia were gracious, articulate, charming and beautiful. Just no comparison. Sorry.</p>

<p>Actually, Sam, I’m just messing with you here because your posts crack me up. The Chinese gymnasts were equally skilled and polished. Among all the gymnasts, I didn’t see a single one from any nation who I wouldn’t have been proud to call my daughter.</p>

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<p>No matter what the Chinese were doing, I love the elegant lines of a slightly taller/more mature gymnast (like Nastia Liukin) compared to a preteen like half the Chinese squad. Then again, i have nothing to do with gymnastics, so what do I know?</p>

<p>It’s still blatantly obvious that He Kexin was underage though.</p>

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<p>jaf1991 wrote:</p>

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<p>The Olympics is not an affirmative action institution. Olympic sports are supposed to be about the Best Of The Best, and where athletes compete on an equal plain, under a single set of rules that are intended to allow the best athlete to prevail. Restricting competitors based on age or any other factor is antithetical to Olympic philosophy.</p>

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<p>zoosermom,
I don’t know I am that funny. :D</p>

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<p>[IOC</a> orders investigation into He Kexin’s age - Fourth-Place Medal - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports](<a href=“Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports”>Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports)</p>

<p>IOC orders investigation into He Kexin’s age</p>

<p>Thursday, Aug 21, 2008 4:42 pm EDT</p>

<p>The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin, The Times of London reports. Faced with almost insurmountable evidence which suggests that He is two years younger than the birth date listed on her Chinese passport, the IOC has launched an inquiry that could result in the stripping of He’s gold medals.</p>

<p>This news comes on the heels of another Times report that details the findings of a New York computer security expert who found official Chinese documents that list He’s age as 14 years and 220 days. Mike Walker used a Chinese search engine’s cache feature to find He’s actual date of birth on spreadsheets from a Chinese government website. The spreadsheets were taken down off the site recently and He’s name had been removed.</p>

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<p>For those following the Olympics and this story.</p>

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<p>"bout time! Any fool could figure out that someone who has just lost their BABY TEETH is NOT 16. sheesh.</p>

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<p>Jeepers, if she’s really only a year and a couple weeks short of legal, I almost don’t care. To look at her, I thought she couldn’t be more than 12, not almost-15.</p>

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<p>More interesting developments re: the female Chinese gymnasts. (Forgive me if this is already linked; I’m late getting to the news today.)</p>

<p>[International</a> Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin’s age - Times Online](<a href=“The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines”>The Times & The Sunday Times: breaking news & today's latest headlines)</p>

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<p>What, so it’s a little white cheat that doesn’t count? I feel bad for the poor girl, though. It’s not her fault at all.</p>

<p>My middle D was 4’6" tall when she started 7th grade (at nearly 13 years old). She was 14 1/2 when she lost her last baby tooth. And even she looked older than 11 or 12 when she turned 16.</p>

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<p>Times link: [International</a> Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin’s age - Times Online](<a href=“http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4583174.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1]International”>http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4583174.ece?token=null&offset=0&page=1)</p>

<p>Missed this thread and posted the link elsewhere.</p>

<p>And I agree…I think the 1994 birthdate on the original Chinese document may have already been stretched. I think He, adorable and talented as she may be, is 12 at most. Marta Karolyi observed missing baby teeth and holes where adult teeth had not yet erupted. Isn’t that about the 10-12 age range at most?</p>

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<p>They should ask China to pay a big fine instead of taking the gold medal back from the little girl. It would break her heart. It’s not her fault.</p>

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<p>I think all of the Chinese gymnasts should undergo scrutiny…MANY of them looked under sixteen, and there are internet caches for all of them listing tournaments from a few months ago in which some gymnasts were just fourteen.</p>

<p>While I would never condemn the girls themselves, there is no way the Chinese government should be able to get away with cheating in the Olympics. To my knowledge, no country has false listings on Google cache. No other country’s gymnasts have had their age questioned by the general public.</p>

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<p>Bless them…this is definitely not the gymnasts’ fault. Twelve year olds certainly cannot be expected to defy the Chinese government. But not just Americans have been cheated, and I’m sick to death of the IOC bowing down to corruption.</p>

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<p>“The Olympics is not an affirmative action institution. Olympic sports are supposed to be about the Best Of The Best, and where athletes compete on an equal plain, under a single set of rules that are intended to allow the best athlete to prevail. Restricting competitors based on age or any other factor is antithetical to Olympic philosophy.”</p>

<p>Sports have rules. It’s disrespectful to your sport and the other athletes to flout them. If some rules don’t count, where do you draw the line? Why have rules at all?</p>

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<p>This link should show the actual cached document. I don’t read Chinese (obviously), but the birthdates of gymnasts in question are highlighted. He is supposedly gymnast 1040. To me it is unbelievable the Chinese gov’t would have us to believe this girl is about to turn 17 (in 4 months). Pretty insulting.</p>

<p>[baidu-busted1.jpg</a> (image)](<a href=“baidu-busted1.jpg]baidu-busted1.jpg (image)”>baidu-busted1.jpg (image))</p>

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<p>^Especially since the purpose of these particular rules is to physically protect the athlete. The reason the age limit was bumped to 16 after Nadia was to keep ruthless coaches and governments from taking advantage of children not equipped to protect themselves.</p>

<p>Btw…the hacker’s (strydehax) website is fascinating. Can’t link it, but he also raises legitimate questions about internet censorship.</p>

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<p>Also, Beth Tweddle from the UK, who was a previous uneven world champ, was pushed out of the medals by He. Beth is 23 and will not compete again. I wouldn’t be so quick to say it’s wrong to strip that medal from the Chinese. And what about the team medals? Which country came in fourth?</p>

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<p>YEA!</p>

<p>(10 chars) so YEA! YEA!</p>