Sure, a 14 year old china girl is holding a gold. But why rain on her day ?
If it is really that much harder for a 16 year old girl to win the gold, then a 14 year old, I will do a backflip on a unicycle.
Maybe in the future, the rule can be changed to abolish the age limit, so the the winner will have the credibility of being the best in the world,if only for a few days. The glory these great athletes have earned is very temporary.
I feel that it’s poor spirit to knock these girls legitimacy now. Even if they are under 16, now is the wrong time to play this up. It’s really lame nit picking.
I think China sees the USA as very bad sports over this. Their girls are better !, even if they learned faster. Get over it USA, and show a little respect IMHO. Respect for the day. The USA media is pissing on little girls parade, to only mean effect IMHO. This appears cruel in China, we are bashing their hero’s ! Argue about this for the next games, it’s super lame now.
About time it’s looked into…the IOC has been ignoring it. They should have done this before they even competed.
And I’ll tell you what’s “super lame” is cheating at the Olympics. If you get caught for doping (cheating) 10 years after the fact they STILL take your medals back. This should not be any different.
It is cheating and they shouldnt get a medal. They should get rid of that law because come on!, The olympics is for the best in the world. If someone is younger than 16 but they’re better everyone else they should get to compete.
The only problem is that these chinese girls have no life because the government takes them away from their parents at a young age to do gymnastics for their whole childhood!
The only problem is that these <insert country of origin> girls have no life because the <parents, government, or coach> takes them away from their normal life at a young age to do gymnastics for their whole childhood!
I’ll bet you a root beer that anyone on any Olympic gymnastics team has breathed, eat, and **** gymnastics for a long time.
Did you read the entire article? It says the minimum age was raised because the younger competiters are more flexible, have had less injuries, and fewer bad experiences. They are also trying to make sure the young athletes don’t get major injuries early in their life, save the injuries for the old.
Last I heard 77 parties applied to be in the protest zone, 73 of those permit apps were denied and China is saying it cannot account for the other 4. Two 70 year old woman applied for a permit so they could protest that their homes were taken via emminent domain bu the Chinese Govt and they were not given fair price. After these two woman applied they were put into a “labor reeducation” program. So yeah…feel free to apply for a protest permit.
Given our trade imbalance, don’t you think CCA and Wackenhut could easily set up Chinese style reeducation facilities here in the states. China could then send us their prisoners for reeducation which, privately run, would be more efficient and inexpensive. This would help with the increasingly difficult unemployment problem in the U.S. and in exchange we could pledge to continue buying American flags and cymbal clapping monkeys from China.
For those who didn’t want to read to the last page of the article:
I believe this should answer all of the OP’s concerns. China has a track record of cheating, they are government controlled and thus faking documents is easy, and we crack down on EVERYONE who cheats, not just the Chinese.
and zod, i think there has ben an increase in applications and arests in recent weeks. Nicholas Kristof applied and did an Op-Ed in the NYTImes yesterday or Wednesday.
There are rules, and there is poor sport nit picking
Imagine how the USA would feel, after falling in love with them for a week, it was discovered Mary Lou Reton or Karie Shrugs was 15, so they stripped them of their gold. Shamed them as scummy cheaters.
And yet if you don’t fudge a few months, you don’t get a chance to fairly compete at all !
The 16 year old rule is only a few years old. If these girls can’t compete now, they will be very likely injured or to old to try next time. Realistically, for most of them this is their only chance. Fate won’t allow them to compete at 16. It’s either 14 or 18 for them.
But I hear you, rules are rules. In this case, the letter of the rules say that the age of a competitor must be 16, as verified by a passport, which was done. To change the rule after the game, and say the passport is not good enough, is unfair. If USA passport forgers are second rate, that is not the Chinese’s problem.
Most likely, because of this, the girls will keep their gold. The furor in the USA press hurts international relations though. Hero bashing just never goes over well, especially when the hero’s are little girls who worked so hard to earn the pride of their country.
The only way to protect young girls from the hard work and injuries they suffer as child Olympians is to ban the sport. Pretty much all those girls worked hard their entire lives.
Isn’t Nastia almost 19…and didn’t she win the all-around? Alicia Sacramone is a few months shy of 21. It isn’t just 14 or nothing.
I think you stand alone here with your views. If the allegations are true that the Chinese team forged documents, I cannot see how you can defend that. No one is questioning the young girls’ athletic ability here, we are just pointing out that forging documents and cheating is not something that the olympics is about.
Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics since the 1980s after the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to protect young athletes from serious injuries. The minimum age was raised to its current 16 in 1997.
Are you quoting the actual IOC rules, or whatever was summarized in the article? I would hope that if the passport in question was falsified by a government that did it on purpose to help get her on the team, it would still be considered cheating.
As it stands, the Chinese gymnasts’ medals are official. But at the same time, every time I see He Kexin I can’t imagine her being 16. She could be, but she sure looks like she’s 11. I used to teach people to drive. All of my high school students were in her supposed age range. Including the Chinese ones. The article mentions how Chinese athletes are “smaller.” Not counting Yao Ming of course. But China is a huge country with tons of room for diversity Size be damned, she really doesn’t look 16. I’m sure this has come up for discussion constantly since she made the Chinese Olympic team, because she’s so good. Surely Chinese officials should be anxious to prove she is, so everyone can collectively breathe a sigh of relief and get on with things. Including the other gymnasts who aren’t suspected of cheating.
Exactly the same way. To win by cheating is to win without honor. Surely in China this is understood. But like anywhere else, there are some who are more interested in winning than in playing fair. I feel bad for the kids (gymnasts) who are just doing the best they can while the adults (allegedly) scheme in the background.
Forging eligability has a long and glorious O tradition
I think it is wrong to call the little girls cheaters. They won their golds fair and square, and also followed the letter of the law about eligibility.
So reserve a shameful label like cheater, for a doper, or a course cutter. This is about eligibility, and should have been addressed before the games, not after 2 billion people just watched them win fair and fine.
Basically, it appears to the Chinese people, that the USA is all whining about this now because we lost.
It was known for the last 4 years that China brought under age gymnasts to the last games. One even admitted publicly that they were 14 at the last games, several months ago on TV.
So sure, if someone cheats at the game they lose their medal. I have no trouble with that. The Chinese are very offended we call these champions cheaters now, as they are sure we are only bringing up the eligibility thing now because we lost. We don’t know anything now we didn’t know 2 weeks ago.
Why did we compete in this games, if we were not going to except a Chinese victory if it occurred ?
and cymbal clapping monkeys 
from China.
