Underage Chinese gymnasts issue raised again
The issue of under-age Chinese gymnasts competing in the Beijing Olympics is being raised again. Three of the six members of the Chinese team have had their ages questioned.
Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to eligible for the games. The registration lists previously posted on the website of the General Administration of Sport of China, show the gymnast Yang Yilin to be 15 years old. A 2007 list shows she was born in 1992, or is 16 now.
“If I don’t have written proof of something … we have to take for granted the passports that we’ve seen and have been checked by the IOC are OK,” said International Gymnastics Federation secretary general Andrei Gueisbuhler.
President Jacques Rogge said its not the IOC’s job to confirm athletes’ ages.
“The IOC relies on the international federations, who are exclusively responsible for the eligibility of athletes,” Rogge said. “It’s not the task of the IOC to check every one of the 10,000 athletes.”
We have doping tests and sex tests, but other than documentation it is difficult to prove a person’s age.
“You can test for lots of drugs, but there’s really no carbon-dating,” Olympic gold medalist Bart Conner said. “Other than believing what they say, where is the truth if you have to look for some independent source? I don’t know.”
Read more: More questions about Chinese gymnasts’ ages
Doesn’t seem unreasonable for them to forge documents to gain advantage. They steal these kids from their families to train at such a young age, that this isn’t that shocking. If they are in fact 16 then they need to have the medals won with the incorrect age stripped from them.
China Cheaters!! As far as i am concerned USA won the Gold they just didn’t get to take it home. There is no way Dueng LinLin was 16 by the looks of her teeth i would say she was about 12. I think one was about 16, and they said she was 20. These poor people and there young children. China talks so much about Honor…..please, they should be ashamed of themselves.
Unfortunately one thing we can count on soon, all their girls will be in other parts of the world and there won’t be any girls to make a team. Their Government only allows one child and they all want boys.
China C heaters!! As far as i am concerned, USA won the Gold they just didnt get to take it home. There is no way that Dueng LinLin was 16, by the looks of her teeth i would say she is 12. Those poor people. China talks about Honor……Please, the should be ashamed of themselves
I watched with anger at the absurdity of the Chinese Team. What hubris to think the world will turn a blind eye to the obvious fact they are underage. I think one of the reasons that the USA team has had injuries and performance mistakes is because Bela and Martha as well as the team are outraged by the way the chinese are flaunting this blatant violation of the rules. They coaches transfer their stress, anger and frustration to the team. My heart goes out to the USA team and they are absolutely gold were the playing field even. I am proud of them for overcoming the worst adversity and condemn the female chinese team. What can you expect from a communist country?
So in a couple years when these children are competeing elsewhere and it is discovered that “OMG you were undereage!!??” will the IOC then strip these girls of the gold and award it accordingly… The olympics have become such a joke…
The Chinese are proving themselves to be cheaters in every respect - Fake singers, fake fireworks, fake sense of national peace and happiness, and now fake “legal aged” gymnasts. Hell, they even tried to fake how clean their air is.
China has ruined their image. Any time they speak of honor, it will be like Fox News saying they’re ‘fair and balanced’ now. Disgusting!
How unfortunate that just when China had the world rooting for them that they should dishonor themselves with fake fireworks, lip sync songs and underage gymnasts. Shame on them!
while i’n not saying it can make up for alleged three or four year differences, i’ve yet to hear anyone bring up the fact that traditionally, many asian cultures count newborns as one year old at birth.
Arrrrrgh!!! Underage Chinese gymnasts!!! Yeeeeeaaaaarrrrgh! What’ll we do!? AHHHHHHHH!!! Noooooooooooo!!! The end is near!!! God help us!!! This can’t be happening!!! Nooooo! No! No! No! Not happening!!! Underage! Underage! Underage! Chinese! Chinese! Chinese! Gymnasts! Gymnasts! GYMNASTS!!! HEEEELLLLP! MOMMY!!! YEEEEAAAAAARRRGH!!!!!!! MAKE IT STOP!!!!!!!!
Love the ignorant white people on the comments section.
THE WHOLE JAPANESE WOMENS TEAM WERE UNDER 5FT AND AROUND 80 SOMETHING POUNDS. WHY NOTHING ON THEM?????
AMERICANS ARE SORE LOSERS.
cry me a river.
Seems I remember a baseball scandal with chinese underage players somewhere in the past, though I may be thinking of japanese. It was years ago. This comes as no surprise.
You should read “the Art of War” You will understand a lot of why they do what they do. Its a good read for a pop centered mind. Everyone should pull in a classic work every once in a while.
let’s face it, chinese girls/women in general look young for their age and are generally smaller than their counterparts. i have a 30 year old chinese friend who gets asked for ID when buying cigarettes on a regular basis. the US are such sore losers and it is they that are making their country look like fools. put those sore grapes away pur-lease!!!
OK, the IOC is NOT required to check the ages of 10,000 athletes. How about checking the ELIGIBILITY of ALL medal winners? ANYONE (YES, even AMERICAN athletes) found to be UNDERAGE should have their medals stripped because they had NO business competing in the Olympics. RULES ARE RULES and they KNOW better, they KNOW damn well they are INELIGIBLE to compete. ENFORCE THESE RULES as the RULES are enforced when someone is caught taking performance enhancing drugs.
You American idiots know nothing about China or the Chinese people. I have lived in China for a long time and have nothing but respect for the Chinese people. The foreign media fills your heads with propaganda and utter nonsense and you all go jumping on the bandwagon like so many before you. Get a life, and a passport, and come and see for yourselves, rather than listening to the China haters. I guarantee 99% of the people who have written bad things about China have never been to China and probably have never left the US State they were born in…
I feel sorry for the American bastards who have such a biased view of the world thanks to the false propaganda. China has already proven themselves to be the world super power…. way to go China…!!
This issue is a matter of integrity, not national bias.
The IOC owes it to all the athletes to investigate this matter thoroughly, just as they would any other possible violation. Such an investigation would either vindicate the chinese athletes entirely and remove any doubt about their right to retain those medals OR enforce the rules that some countries have adhered to and enhance the integrity and honor of the officiating in a sport which is widely viewed to be rife with biased judging.
Honestly. Even if the medals are stripped, you cannot give the new medalists the pride of having their national anthem played in front of billions of people worldwide back.
China should embrace this opportunity to prove their integrity. If they are vindicated, their accusers will lose face before the world. If not, and China submits itself to whatever actions are deemed necessary to maintain the integrity of the sport, they gain legitimacy through their willingness to abide by the decision of impartial judges.
I watched the Chinese gymnasts compete for the team gold and I have to say they performed better than Team USA. They had fewer mistakes. However, I think it is incredible that there are people out there that believe all of Team China’s gymnasts are 16 or older. I was watching with my mom (who is a doctor) and she said developmentally the smallest one looked to be around 12. She said it had to do with the formation of their breasts and hips; not their height or weight.
As to the American’s being sore losers, the American gymnasts were anything but. There was hand shaking all around in what I think was an exemplarily show of good sportsmanship and Team China behaved just as well. It is the viewers that are the upset ones.
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