Just solve the problem and take away the age limit. It wasn't there in the past. If there was no age limit, then the Chinese team beat the Americans anyways.
So the whole "Free Tibet" crowd lied, including yourself. Thank you for finally admitting the obvious.
On the men's side, the Chinese gymnast who won the all around gold is 28. That's ancient. This article describes how the experienced "veteran" had the advantage over the "young Americans." http://sports.espn.go.com/oly/summer08/gymnastics/columns/story?id=3534440 So being young and unaware of the pressure of Olympic competition is a plus for the women's team. But being old and game experienced is a plus for the mens?
wow, didn't know he is 6'4 with 6'7 wingspan and short legs. his legs are like people who are 6'0 tall. that's a weird shape. good for swimming i guess.
Wetzel Column The Olympics’ age-old problem By Dan Wetzel, Yahoo! Sports Aug 13, 2008 BEIJING – For a long time, elements of the Chinese government itself thought women’s gymnast He Kexin was born Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14 and too young to compete in these Summer Olympics. Whether it was repeated mentions in the government-controlled media – including a new one uncovered Friday by the Associated Press – or on official gymnastic meet registration forms and websites, she was “this little girl” and a “new star.” As recently as December 2007, in provincial gymnastics meets and news reports that covered it, she was a 13-year-old prodigy, too young for the 16-year-old Olympic age limit for gymnastics. Then, suddenly, she wasn’t. Earlier this year China produced her passport that claimed she was born Jan. 1, 1992, making her old enough to perform a brilliant uneven bar routine and push China to the women’s all around gold medal. The Chinese either got it wrong in 2007 or wrong in 2008. Considering 2000 Chinese bronze medalist Yang Yun later admitted on state television she was 14 that year, the reported ages of He Kexin and at least two of her teammates have aroused suspicion in nearly everyone except the powers that be – the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Both organizations accepted the new passport as fact, certified He and tried to cover their collective ears at all the complaints. Wednesday, the IOC even slipped a gold medal around He Kexin’s neck. If the IOC had a modicum of decency and courage (don’t count on it), it would open an immediate investigation into whether it might take that medal right back. If not for the of-age gymnasts who lost to the Chinese, then for He and her diminutive teammates, who – if they actually are old enough – don’t deserve suspicion tainting their accomplishment. While the IOC undoubtedly is petrified of humiliating the host country in such a scandal, doing nothing merely humiliates the IOC and continues the belief that the organization is about money, not fair play. For its part, the Chinese gymnastics delegation told the AP that the mistake was made by the media and provincial officials, not on the passport. Everything is on the up and up. “It’s definitely a mistake,” Zhang Hongliang told the AP. “Never has any media outlet called me to check the athletes’ ages. “We already explained this very clearly,” Zhang said. “There’s no need to discuss this thing again.” Oh, but there is. The age of the Chinese gymnasts has overwhelmed the women’s gymnastics competition. It’s not just the wild and often ill-timed accusations by USA Gymnastics team coordinator Marta Karoyli and her husband Bela Karoyli, who dubbed the Chinese “half people.” It’s the snickers from disbelieving fans around the world who can’t come to grips with girls who look so young actually being 16. The entire competition has lost credibility. Outside of China the focus has been on the birth dates, not the brilliance of the Chinese athletes. The IOC and FIG can’t continue to bury their heads and hope it will blow away. “The FIG has received confirmation from the International Olympic Committee that all passports are valid for all gymnasts competing in the Beijing Olympic Games,” FIG said in a statement. “Stringent control measures are taken at the time of athlete accreditation for all official FIG competitions. Further, all athlete ages for the Beijing Olympic Games are consistent with the FIG records for all past FIG competitions.” In an effort to protect the health of athletes whose bones and muscles have not fully formed, FIG years ago instituted the 16-year-old age minimum. To compete in these Games, a gymnast had to be born in 1992 or earlier. A younger and presumably smaller gymnast would have an advantage in some disciplines due to their nimble nature. Nadia Comaneci scored seven perfect-10s in the 1976 Games when she was just 14. Perhaps it’s believable that one person’s age could be so terribly confused. However, He is just one of the gymnasts with suspicious confusion. The birth date of Yang Yilin was listed on official national registration lists posted by the General Administration of Sport of China website from 2004-2006 as a too-young Aug. 26, 1993, according to the AP. On her passport her birth date is Aug. 26, 1992. Jiang Yuyuan’s birthday was Oct. 1, 1993 as recently as a registration list for a 2007 competition. According to her passport she was born Nov. 1, 1991. All three of those gymnasts produced high-scoring performances on the uneven bars that gave China a lead it would not relinquish in the women’s team all around. It was one reason Marta Karoyli stomped around mocking the Chinese to her American gymnasts, calling them “little babies” and later claiming one still had “baby teeth.” Karoyli’s suspicions were never wrong, just the style, means and timing in which she and her husband expressed them. The fact that her team’s performance was not strong and she expanded the conspiracies to include Olympic officials who were supposedly distracting her gymnasts didn’t help (that accusation was refuted by USA Gymnastics itself). No matter the strength of the allegations, the moments after the competition was not the time for Karoyli to throw a hissy-fit unbecoming of a team coordinator. Gymnastics deserve better from everyone. This cloud of controversy isn’t fair to the Chinese, the Americans or anyone else, and it shouldn’t be played out in media quotes and old websites. A real investigation with real explanations is long overdue. It’s time for the IOC to do more than count the money here.
It's a damn shame that the U.S. women's gymnastic has to import old commie bastards from Eastern Europe to coach/guide the team.
What in the name of God are you talking about? If you've ever met Bela Karolyi (which I have), you would know that he's all about the red, white, and blue. That guy is pure class.....a lot more than you can say.
Once again, certain Americans claim they represent the whole world outside of China. When Americans won gold over Russians in 1996 in Atlanta, despite all the questions raised by newspapers over the world, including some of the "democratic" allies, Americans believe IOC and FIG are the best organizations. But when US won silver "only", IOC has lost credibility long time ago. When US won gold again, according to the great fans here, the game is still rigged, but just not hard enough. A perfect combination of sour loser and ungraceful winner, how typical! Everything was around one news report from China, and that's the rock solid proof all you need to accuse Chinese government to issue false passports. Once it can be used by you, all of the sudden, the always lying propaganda commie government controlled news outlet becomes the golden standard for ultimate truth. When people questioned Joyner's looks/muscles/performance, she won Owens Award, because she's American. When people questioned Jones' performance, she was featured as anti-doping role model, because she's American. When Phelps wins every single gold and breaks every single world record, the free world cheer him on. When Chinese finally won ONE gold medal in swimming, Aussies started to question her. This must be a white-only sports. Oh wait, Japanese and Koreans win is fine, so I guess it must be a "democratic" sports. If Americans really feel FIG and IOC are rigged, show some character and refuse the medals, as the Swedish dude did, or refuse to participate the game. This non-stop whining after win or loss is really childish.
^^^^ I kind of agree with the article tho, the IOC should just launch an investigation to settle it once and for all. I am sick of people brushing away the achievements of our athletes, and automatically associate every little mishap with "oh China is just cheating again". The IOC should just make weight or BMI requirements rather then just purely base it on age. Whats the difference between a 12 year old and a 16 year old with a 12 year old's body.
its a shame that China had to get Donnie Nelson from the Mavericks to help their team. I mean everyone in the world knows that Mavericks organization represents evil.
There were multiple news reports in both Chinese and western press, not to mention documentation such as provincial records obtained by reporters, not to mention the fact that China has done this in the past.
Americans multiple news reports always list NBA players' height, weight, wingspan, and AGE, all differently. Heck, some can't even get Yao Ming's first name or last name right after 6 years. But when it comes to OFFICIAL, I guess only their PHOTO ID counts. NONE of the news report count, unless you have changed the rules in Homeland Security. As for the Chinese gymnasts, IOC and FIG ONLY accept their OFFICIAL passports as proof of identification. BTW, your western press, including the multiple internet blogs linked in this thread, was siting the same news report. You repeat the same thing, doesn't count for multiple sources.
These Chinese girls look at least less than 14 years of age. God, we should cheat to and get in to the action. Damn China, still, they will never beat us in all time medal count.
Why is it a shame? Because Chinese are willing to learn from others? Once again, you are too loose with that everyone in the world, the same mistake that blogger was making. Didn't some Rockets fans here want an owner like Cuban?
In all honesty does the medal count really matter? Its more about how you perform in the events you enter. More athletes=More medal chances. Doesn't really much about how the country performed over all.
