<p>[ABC</a> News: Gym Officials: China’s 2008 Gold Medalists of Age](<a href=“http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/WireStory?id=5925391&page=1]ABC”>http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/WireStory?id=5925391&page=1)</p>
<p>I’m very disappointed with this outcome, but not surprised.</p>
<p>During the Olympic competition, I was sure members of the Chinese team were underage. Two things have caused me to rethink the situation. A very plausible explanation for different birthdates being reported for the gymnasts at earlier competitions is that for age-level competitions to report a younger age is very beneficial as they would then be competing against younger athletes. Ethical, no. But we have seen the same type of discrepancies in other sports, like the Little League World Series. Secondly, on a personal level, my DD2 is a college freshman who lives in a dorm where on a floor where over a dozen Chinese students reside. They are all juniors and seniors and according to DD2, none of them appear to be older than 15 or 16 and they are all in the 20 to 22 age range.</p>
<p>Big surprise; I do not believe they are all of age, but I would have been shocked if the FIG had the guts to cause the political upheaval which would result in pursuing that issue.</p>
<p>I do understand that the younger ages might have been used to allow them to qualify for a local ompetition for which they were too young, but that just is further proof that the culture does not view that age rule as worthy of following; apparently (and I am no expert) there is a general disregard for “silly” rules like that, so if they don’t see it as cheating to say the kids are younger, they probably don’t see it as cheating to say the kids are older?</p>
<p>Yep, China just arranged for birth certificates to match their “stated” age. Do older chinese girls look younger, yes. Did these girls look younger, yes. Were their demeanors ones of younger girls, very much so. Were there records from prior meets with later birthdates on record, you bet. Do younger gymnasts hve less hormones, less hormonally induced body changes, less hormonally induced anxiety issues…most certainly. Can they get up on a world stage and feel less pressure, often so. There brains are still wired in a prepubescent way.</p>
<p>In many sports, the age cheaters are trying to play older kids as if they are younger. But in gymnastics, it can be easier to work with a team that is younger than their stated age. </p>
<p>We will never know the truth.</p>
<p>The Chinese government was able to eliminate Tiananmen Square. Altering the ages of a few girls in a nation of over a billion isn’t much of a problem for the Chinese government.</p>
<p>Sour grapes.</p>
<p>“My family and I are pleased with the level of scrutiny the FIG and IOC undertook with this very serious issue,” said Olympic all-around champion Nastia Liukin, who finished second to He on uneven bars on a tiebreak."</p>
<p>Yes, foreign countries could do no wrong. It must have been the US’s fault.</p>
<p>Hey, if it’s good enough for those Russians competing for the U.S., it’s good enough for me.</p>
<p>Look for some of these competitors to still be performing when they are ostensibly in their 30s. Remember the Russian/German gymnast this year?</p>
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<p>Haha, some day those “eligible” athletes will also obtain a 2400 SAT in the same manner. Basing the determination on documents provided by the country itself is nothing but a cynical joke. One might guess that pressuring the judges in posting questionable scores was not enough. </p>
<p>China might have won a couple more medals, but has surely lost the respect they could have earned with honesty. </p>
<p>Different culture. Different morals. Nothing surprising!</p>
<p>Eating Soy beans, tofu, and yams keeps you girls young.</p>
<p>Being born in 1994 doesn’t hurt either.</p>
<p>I tried to compare Chinese to Chinese (as apples to apples) in regard to age/looks during Olimpics. During Olimpics, I compared the looks of Chinese Gymnasts and Chinese Divers. Chinese Diver who officially was 15 years old (must be no age restriction in diving? There is none in swimming) definately looked much older than all Chinese gymnasts and she looked her age (15) to me. Sport of diving favors the same build as sport of gymnastics - smaller, thinner… I have no doubt that some of Chinese gymnasts were 12-13 (they looked 7 years old to me).</p>
<p>That is EXACTLY what I think, MiamiDAP. Compare the 15-16 year old Chinese divers to the “15-16” year old Chinese gymnasts. Probabably very similar training and diets. While the divers were *tiny<a href=“e.g.%204’6%22,%204’7%22,%2070%20or%2080%20some%20pounds”>/I</a>, their muscles were more developed and their faces looked totally like the faces of teenaged girls - all their teeth in, no baby fat in their cheeks.</p>
<p>I thought one of the youngest looking Chinese gymnasts had a couple of missing baby teeth, I could see it when she smiled. That’s one reason why I thought she looked younger than the age requirement.</p>
<p>LOL.
But I was still thrilled to see the excellent performances of the U.S. gymnasts–no matter which medals they won.</p>
<p>I enjoyed a lot watching US gymnasts and they did amazingly well and looked like ladies, not like 7 years old kids, which actually added a lot of artistic appeal to their performance.</p>
<p>Diving has an age 14 minimum, that UK boy was 14 and barely made it</p>