<p>Sorry, but just seeing those little girls and the cheating going on just makes me angry. The IOC is bending over backwards for China, and it is just weird. It is also sad that countries so easily break the rules, and yet we are supposed to take the competitions seriously. There is a reason for the rule saying gymnasts must be 16. To just accept that the passports are valid and that all the other reports are “mistakes” is so transparent to be laughable.</p>
<p>I guess a passport is “valid” if it has been issued by the applicable government authority. I have no doubt that the correct governent authority actually DID issue the passports…it’s just that the year of birth is not accurate. I guess the IOC can’t follow this reasoning?</p>
<p>I started an Olympics discussion on the College Life forum, and quickly I was accused of hating China because of my suspicions towards gymnastics and swimming.</p>
<p>Thank you for being able to discuss ideas and controversies of the Olympics in a decent manner without throwing accusations to each other! Oh brother.</p>
<p>There are 2 Olympics threads here in the Parent Cafe. This one, and another called The Other Side of the Olympics. The “Other Side” thread was started by a thoughtful dad who didn’t want to “rain on the parade” of the people on this thread enjoying the olympics. So perhaps golfingdad and catsushi should check out that thread, it might be more to their liking.</p>
<p>Not that we’re not all for open discussion everywhere, but if you are really feeling that the Olympics are “irrelevant, cheating is rampant, its a corporate event and we the public are lied to, and expected to take it. I find them boring and trite and false.” then you might want to read/post there, and let those who are enjoying the games here continue to enjoy them.</p>
<p>Yes, missypie, hats off to all the swimming parents out there! Someone mentioned that NBC was showing too much footage of Michael Phelps’ mom cheering for him in the stands. In my books, she deserves a medal, too!
Just feeding this kid was like trying to fill a black hole - LOL:
[Michael</a> Phelps eats 12,000 calories per day - Fourth-Place Medal - Olympics - Yahoo! Sports](<a href=“Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports”>Sports News, Scores, Fantasy Games - Yahoo Sports)</p>
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<p>His mom doesn’t deserve more than other athletes’ moms. I’ve seen more footage of his mom screaming (“Go Michael”…) than even some other US gold medalists. That to me is absurd.</p>
<p>H and I were “swimming parents” for a number of years. I figured out after the first tortuous meet that I needed to become a USS official because if you officiated at the meets the time went faster (and you weren’t crammed into the smelly bleachers) AND, most importantly, you had access to some nice food in the hospitality room for officials and coaches! My kids quit after junior high- it’s a tough haul and leaves no room for much else in a kid’s life. My daughter’s gripe was that there was no real program for a semi-serious recreational/fitness swimmer. They either wanted you 4 hours a day or “hit the road”. (an aside- Lance Armstrong swam on the master’s swim team I was on…)</p>
<p>Yes, the alternative is the summer rec programs that my kids did, which was a very poor alternative. People always say how important technique is. Son kept getting DQ’d in breast stroke. We’d ask the coach and he’d say something like “These things happen. I’m sure he’ll do better next time.” But come Monday at the pool, they’d never work to correct the technique.</p>
<p>The one fun part was that my youngest could do the butterfly at a young age…at each meet, there would be maybe 3 or 4 kids in the youngest age division for the 25 fly. And a couple of them would be DQ’d, leaving Daughter to almost always win. She retired on top by about the age of 7.</p>
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<p>Thanks for the tip, Lafalum, but my point was that I dislike arguing and name-calling so perhaps the other thread would not be to my liking.</p>
<p>Catsushi, the other thread is just as civil and mature as this one… Honest. It’s just a tad more realistic. Or cynical. Depends on your perspective, I guess.</p>
<p>Tomorrow morning is the start of Track & Field - the women’s 10,000, can’t wait! My D is a big Kara Goucher fan, and moved up her meeting with a college coach so they can watch the race together. Me I’ll have to watch the tape and avoid spoilers! Plus the US has a good chance of sweeping the shot put!</p>
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<p>Being young and being able to do the butterfly is always a great asset. When I was about 11 I swam the 200 butterfly in a championship and placed third just because only 5 kids had entered in the whole event. Of course, the first time I ever swam the 200 fly I was DQed for a one hand touch…I was so upset I started crying in front of the officials! Miraculously they “lost” my DQ slip so I didn’t get disqualified. :)</p>
<p>We can’t get enough of Phelps here in Baltimore of course. We used to belong to the pool where he trained and my D went to the same middle school as he did and he visited her science class while she was there. The street in front of the local high school was renamed “Michael Phelps Way” in 2004. She feels like she almost knows a celebrity.</p>
<p>I am in awe of these hurdlers. Wow.</p>
<p>Okay, H and S just started laughing at me because I was screaming for Rebecca Soni. What a great race for her! I did remind H and S that I’ve heard much louder screams during football game. </p>
<p>As much as I love watching the swimming, it’s a little bit odd for this swim parent to watch it on tv. We, or at least I, am used to the smell of chlorine while watching swimming. :)</p>
<p>I wish they would use subtitles for Bella Karoly.</p>
<p>^^^ LOL! I know. His accent is getting thicker the older he gets.</p>
<p>This judging is so irritating.</p>
<p>Semi-spoiler alert:</p>
<p>West Coasters - the gymnastics final is worth staying up to watch! Truly enjoyable, and remarkable routines from all the competitors. Great job by all the gymnasts tonight!</p>
<p>BREAKING NEWS:</p>
<p>On my local NBC station they said they dug up this old news article from a China newspaper that listed one of their gymnasts at a younger age than what is reported now (as in younger than the cutoff age of 16). China is claiming the newspaper made a mistake. But we are one step closer to uncovering that their girls are way too young for competition.</p>
<p>Here’s a good link describing the Associated Press research into the stories last Nov. marking several of the Chinese gymnasts as 13 at that time.</p>
<p>[State-media</a> story fuels questions on gymnast’s age](<a href=“http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/14/sports/s055400D49.DTL]State-media”>http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/08/14/sports/s055400D49.DTL)</p>
<p>They saved copies of the pages from the Chinese websites before reporting on it; good thing, too, since the pages are now mysteriously unavailable.</p>