Horrific loss of face. Looks like a little brainwashbot blew a fuse. Just accept that China's gold here is going to be forever tarnished in the court of public opinion of non-bots - and try to move on with your life.
You have no proof. Cached website content is not admissible evidence, according to IOC. At best this age controversy is debatable. What's not debatable is Paul Hamm lost to its rival fair and square but got to keep his gold medal nonetheless because of some "procedural constraint" in the IOC rules.
Really people, what 'Proof' would you accept that can show the girls are not under 16? Majority of you have already made up your mind and nothing will change that. What ever they bring forward as 'Proof', you will just say "Oh, I bet they forge that". Even if they are cheating, remember the saying, if you are not cheating you are not trying. Stop pretending that we won't try to do the same if we know we can get away with it. The whole Olympic thing is a farce anyway, why not just enjoy the events, admire the athletes, and worry less about who gets what medals. Are we that insecure?
no one cheats more than americans.... look at marion jones, and look at the decrease in american dominance in track and field after closer looks on dopes by IOC
The Hamm argument is a moot point. No one knows what would have happened had the Korean been awarded the proper start value. Assume he had been awarded the proper start value and all remained the same through the first five events. Hamm could have adjusted his 6th event routine knowing he would need a higher score and won anyway. No one knows. What happened to the Korean was a travesty, but to say Hamm would not have won anyway is disingenuious. Assume that the Rockets are playing the Lakers and Kobe hits a long shot at some point in the third quarter. It is called a 2 by the refs. The Rockets win by one. After the game it is determined that it truly was a 3. Should the 4th quarter be replayed? Wouldn't the entire end-game strategy be different if the Rockets knew the Lakers had an extra point? Similar situation. Hamm's startegy may have changed (maybe even for the worse) had the correct score been posted after 5 rotations. Taking away Hamm's gold would have been a huge miscarriage.
Nice try, but the IOC had nothing to do with initiating the investigation into Jones. That was the US media, the USOC and the US Anti-Doping Agency. The point is that Americans were the ones who blew the lid off... jingoism, patriotism, "saving face" be damned.
Actually let's look at China's swim team which set the standard for organized cheating in sports in the 1990's and early 00's.
There is a massive difference between state sponsored cheating and individuals trying to get an edge. DD
Indeed. After seeing the size of a couple of their female swimmers, I'm not convinced that they abandoned their doping program.
Shawn Johnson changed her floor routine just the other night to a higher start value in order to help win a medal.
Uh, they issued the fake passports.......I would call that state sponsored, wouldn't you? Look, I know you don't want anything bad said about China, heck you might even be paid by their state to come here and other places around the world and try to repair their image. But, everyone can see the truth, fake passports, fake ethnic kids, hiding a little girl with an amazing voice because she does not fit the "right look".... China is trying too hard......and it shows. And for the record, just because China's government sucks does not mean it's people are not wonderful, because they are...they just have a crap governmental system that surpresses people. DD
This is the same government that takes children away from their parents at the age of 3 so it can produce Olympic-caliber athletes. The same government that exerts total control over these kids' lives in order to gain some international prestige. If anything shifty was done, the Chinese government was behind it.
You don't need state sponsorship to achieve all these things in China. Just need some individuals with good connections and money.
There is no one single failed doping test to China's swimmers in all the Olympics it has participated and that's all it counts.
No, that's not all that counts. http://www.cbc.ca/sports/photoessay/top10-doping/index7.html Come on, man. Everyone knows they were doping.
Although not in the Olympics, there is this swimmer: http://olympics.thestar.com/2008/article/450287 there is also this: "The image of Chinese sports was tainted in the 1990s following several high-profile positive incidents, notably in the pool. Seven Chinese swimmers tested positive for steroids at the 1994 Asian Games in Hiroshima. Four years later, another four swimmers failed doping tests during the world championships in Perth, Australia." http://www.china.org.cn/2008-03/30/content_13909325.htm I guess since it wasn't during the Olympics, it's O.K.?
