| Chinese Women's Gymnastics Controversy | |
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| Aug 19, 2008 01:51 | #11   |
| GUEST51778 | All one really needs is one's better judgement. I've watched with great interest and having a 13 year old daughter of my own I can say with some degree of authority that He Kexin of China is NOT 16. Just take a good look at her and ask yourself if that girl is a sophomore in high school. Or can you picture her driving a car? Not bloody likely. One poster here accused the US fans of being jealous ... jealous of what exactly? I only feel pity and regret, not jealousy. Pity for China because they clearly believe the ends justifies the means. Gold means whatever you did to get it, including falsifying documents on the world stage, was justified. Sad. Is the collective Chinese psyche suffering from such an inferiority complex that cheating to overcome is acceptable ... In front of the world you're so desperate to impress? I regret that the other Olympians who were cheated will have suffered, trained, sweated and sacrificed only to lose out to a bunch of cheaters. Where is the cherished Olympic ideal of fair play? Anything gained by China now rings hollow to me. China has done a disservice to their countrymen and world sport by clearly violating rules that were meant to prevent such abuses. Shame on you China! I agree with another poster ... if the IOC is going to strip medals for cheating (and Marion Jones clearly deserved what she got) then the IOC must apply those standards across the board. If evidence can be found to prove out the cheating then I expect the IOC to investigate and strip medals from China if it's warranted. However, after all of this I suspect the IOC will work to sweep it under the rug because heaven forbid we offend China. The Opening Ceremonies were incredible and many of China's athletes have acquitted themselves admirably and to their everlasting credit but to allow this travesty to continue only dishonors the whole enterprise. Why bother having rules in the future? |
| Aug 19, 2008 18:38 | #12 |
| GUEST25327 | it is wrong for china to be cheating, if they are, but it does make some sense for them to do so because it is at their age in which gymnasts are generally best. they are a lot more flexible and have not gone through puberty so they have less "body mass". This is their prime! I'm sure these gymnasts could haver perform the spectacular performances they did this year at the next oylpics, four years later. yes, yes, china is cheating to win, bla, bla, bla, but seriously, would you rather watch a wonderful performance by a younger gymnast, or performance by a older gymnast with all the disadvantages previosly mentioned? if they are underage, it is not their fault that the olympics came two years earlier than they would have been able to perform legally in, but with their skill, and knowing it wouldn't be the same later, who wouldn't go earlier? |
| Aug 19, 2008 19:51 | #13 |
 | "it is wrong for china to be cheating" I can't believe this is being asked. I am stumped. "but seriously, would you rather watch a wonderful performance by a younger gymnast, or performance by a older gymnast with all the disadvantages previosly mentioned? if they are underage, it is not their fault that the olympics came two years earlier than they would have been able to perform legally in, but with their skill, and knowing it wouldn't be the same later, who wouldn't go earlier?" The rule says that gymnasts have to turn 16 or 16 on the Olympic year. It doesn't depend on what people want to watch. The rule was in place to protect the children while their bones are forming. However, as I mentioned before it is defeated by the fact that the kids start training very young anyway so the rule is kinda 'useless'. Second, they can't perform accurate age verification. They might as well scrap it. |
| Aug 20, 2008 01:38 | #14 |
| GUEST50247 | The proof is apparently an official website that stated very clearly that one of the girls was 14 years old, but when she entered the Olympics, the article was edited and changed to 16. However, someone had saved the cached version and showed the report. The girls look very young too. I believe that somehow, the issue is being swept under the carpet. Believe me, you can fake passports. I'm not trying to say China cheated, I'm just saying that passports are not very...er...legitimate here. Being 14 has a distinct advantage over being 16 or older, due to the lighter bodies and the smaller frames, etc. I hope this will be checked. Also, who thinks the judges in China are totally cheating in some of their decisions, such as the men's apparatus (the American and Italian losing out) and Nastia's loss of the gold? |
| Aug 21, 2008 20:32 | #15 |
| GUEST23169 | If a gymnast's peak performance is below 16, we should allow under 16 to compete for olympic gold. ONLY when there are official medical reports that suggest 'long or short term' effects should the IOC reconsider this ruling. Besides, has anyone ever heard of a 'lower weight categoried' weightlifter lifting better than a higher weight category? If there were, it doesn't mean they disqualify. It just means that they are better even though their weight limits them to a lower category. |
| Aug 21, 2008 20:40 | #16 |
| GUEST23169 | Gloria Macapagal Aroyo isn't old enough to be President of the Philippines. One look at her any american mother could tell that she just entered highschool ... unfortunately ... looks can be deceiving. Judging by her size, her face, her skin complexion and the size of her iris, President Gloria may look 16. In actual fact 16 isn't too far away. Just switch the numbers over ... she's 61. |
| Aug 22, 2008 00:55 | #17 |
| GUEST60198 | 22 August 2008 IOC calls for investigation into gymnast's age http://tinyurl.com/ "New discrepancies about her age emerged yesterday after a US IT security consultant called Mike Walker, dug up cached copies of official Excel spreadsheets found on the internet which showed He Kexin 's birthday as January 1, 1994 - meaning she is just 14-year-old." |
| Aug 23, 2008 21:06 | #18 |
| GUEST23109 | I am a dentist. There are developmental and maturational stages in teeth development. Molar teeth erupt during age 6, 12 and 18, (wisdom teeth). The other teeth have time periods also. Although some people do not develp and mature during the "normal" period, you can see teeth and jaw development by taking dental x-rays. We the experts in dentistry can analyze well. Of course everything is subject to discussion and debate, but including x-rays along with body growth such as signs of puberty are good ways to determine the "normal" age of a developing young adult. Teeth have certain stages of growth. That Chinese gymnast with the missing front teeth could have missed her tooth because of: congenital missing tooth, impacted #7 tooth (enrupted) or lost from trauma. A full mouth series of x-rays will be tell- tale. Also, we can tell the growth and develpment of the jaw and what is inside the mouth. This is not just based on looking at the size and height of the person. |
| Aug 24, 2008 17:04 | #19 |
| GUEST15762 | This is the issue that really bothers me. We all know Nastia had a better routine but in the end they had identical total scores. That being said if they both received gold medals for tying I don't think there would be china's gynmasts being underage issue. Now after saying that they should adhere to the rules. Ok, take a look at USA's gymnast team and look at china's. Team USA women look their age. You look at China. They don't even look 12. So passports are used to prove a gymnasts age? Wouldn't birth certificate be the better choice. Probably nothing is going to come of this but Nastia was cheated out of her gold and she was gracious in that aspect. I was born in Japan but I am a team USA fan all the way but I also believe fair is fair. I was very disappointed in the judging and probably those issues should be looked at for the next games... |
| Aug 25, 2008 02:38 | #20 |
| GUEST78144 | In answer to another guest above: Don't buy the image on airbrushed political posters, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo actually does look her age, although she looks quite good for it (perhaps assisted by judicious use of hair dye.) See: http://commons.wikimedia.org/ I could never mistake President Arroyo for the same age as my 16-year-old Asian daughter (who doesn't weigh only 73 lbs and look physically more like an elementary-schooler, like some of those gymnasts.) |
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