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And those reports were published by China's state-run media. On November 3, Xinhua listed He Kexin as being 13, referring to her as "this little girl" (an apt description for any of China's diminutive gold medalists). A May 23 story in China Daily listed He as being 14. Gymnasts must be 16 the year of the Olympics to be eligible to compete. He's birthday is officially listed as January 1, 1992, a rather eye-opening date we must say, signaling that either He is truly 16 or someone is a very lazy liar. He helped China win its first ever women's team gold on Wednesday. China's denies the age-fixing allegations (the ages of two other Chinese gymnasts have also been questioned) and the offending state-media stories have either been "fixed" or erased from the internet. The questions remain: How much of an advantage do you get from using underage gymnasts? And is it better to say you lost to a bunch of really young looking 16-year-olds or to admit you lost to 13-year-olds, some of whom are reportedly missing teeth? [Source]
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Pyjamas people are disappearing in Shanghai!
but I found this very cool book of Shanghai people in
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---“Is it better to say you lost to a bunch of really young looking 16-year-olds or to admit you lost to 13-year-olds“？
I think it better to say you lost to one bribed Chinese referee. That’d sound more convincing.
Of course Americans lost not because of a stumble by a burger-aass, but because Chinese were underage.
Guess the noice will die down immediately with the news the loser finally became winner today, anews that will comfort the wounded soul.
Unlike nagging narrow-minded loser, I think it was a real fair play and congratulate to sweet FULL sixteen Liukin. I only pray for the poor Chinese coach of Shawn and hope Shawn would not hire him to break Liukin’s leg one day.
Anyone want to bet that eastman is getting paid by the government to post his nonsense here constantly?
Eastman - do you know how gymnastic works at all? Well anyways just a short story...
It is actually EASIER for a younger, smaller, less developed body to do some of the harder routines. Meaning that an 8 year old( 1/3 of the Chinese team ) would have a dramatic advantage over EVERY(not just the Americans) team in the field.
However since the governments hand out passports, it is nearly impossible to tell the real age of any given gymnast.
The ny times pointed out that in the grander scheme, lying about a gymnast's age is a little worse than having a legit 16yr that's malnourished/forced to diet to have the body of a 13 year old. I'm guessing some countries have been accused of that before,,
China Media Project has more. Well worth a look.
If proven China used underage gymnasts, medals need to be stripped. That would be a shame, but they should have known better.
to cwalt51,
I partly agree with you since I know how it works. What I was driving at was:
Chinese got the medal not because they played too well but because US team played too bad. American could sue Chinese girls if taking it as fraud. But before the verdict, all are presumed innocent, right?
Meanwhile I just think of the possiblity for host China to make as many gold medals as possible to please the narrow-minded.
Please try to appreciate my tongue in cheek and maybe I "pick up side" and cheered for Americans girl that day, lol!
To wowwowwow,
WOW! You have a logical problem, like all your online lynching mobsters gang.
Whenever you meet someone favoring China, you’d think he/she is either a Chinese, or a CCP, or brainwashed, or hired, like a typical anti-commie redneck.
To save from Midwest, I give you a tip for your enlightenment: I am no Chinese and CCP has no foreign member. I used to be brainwashed like an idiot and you, but by WESTERN media. Last, I am not hired but I hire. In Shanghai not so many can afford hiring me, while I am simply retired. Unlike you, I hate the strong bully the weak who seldom retort, which is the very reason why I am now for China, a country you take advantage from but badmouth every day as sport for cowards. While you have an easier target at home committing the most inhuman crime who should be impeached and tried, you simply pretend you have no collective responsibitity for it.
With all told, I politely ask you to put up and shut up.
eastman -
The ages of the Chinese team was in question weeks before the game began. It's just getting more headlines now than it did then.
I do agree, the Americans didn't do that well in the team competition, but a cheater is a cheater. Since it will be so hard to prove and that China is the host nation, nothing will come out of this.
eastman, who said i am american? You are just a 50-center. Your words mean nothing. you suclk at the tit of your masters.
Can't we find out their age through a DNA test? Just tack it on with the doping tests.
We all know from experience that Chinese look younger than Caucasians. My wife and I still get carded at bars (we're both in our 30's). So you see a Chinese age 16, she may look 14. You see a Caucasian age 14, she may look 16? So which one is more likely to cheat? I found all these underage allegations outrageously perverted.
So they look younger! Big deal!
I am wondering why nobody mentioned that ages in China can be confusing. I mean we have shisui and xusui. I can be 25, 26 and even 27 under the different criteria. Can this be the reason?
BOSOX: how dare you make such racist comments! :-) I'm being sarcastic, btw.
"We all know from experience that Chinese look younger than Caucasians. My wife and I still get carded at bars (we're both in our 30's)".
So you are saying that it is ridiculous that someone would question her age because Chinese just naturally look younger? But what if she IS younger?
As for innocent until proven guilty, there is no threat of that being forgotten. Nobody has stripped the medal yet, have they? I think what would make the Americans happy is an adjudication by someone who is not the Chinese government. All the government can say to prove her age is that they have shown everyone her passport. But as it is easy to change a number on a passport, this justification does not hold much water.
Nothing will probably come of this, but the Americans do have a valid concern. And if her age were investigated and she were found to be 16, then nobody would lose anything they have not lost already.
http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2008/08/hack-olympics.html
http://strydehax.blogspot.com/2008/08/olympic-hacking-part-ii-lets-go-for.html
Oops.
Many questions are to be answered:
1. Did the Americans deserve to win the gold for the all around? My opinion is no.
2. Did Nastia deserve to win the gold for the uneven bars? My opinion yes.
3. Are the Chinese female gymnasts under age? Yet to be proven, but in my opinion yes.
4. If the gymnasts are under age should their medals be stripped? In my opinion yes.
5. If China did knowingly cheat, should a suspensions of some type be handed down? In my opinion yes.
To add more detail to this (again all my opinion):
The American team did not perform consistently enough to earn the all around gold. The uneven bar routine for He Kexin was good and several flaws were detected, Nastia Luikin had flaws but less of them and her performance was better. But what should be questioned is the rules for breaking a tie, not to mention both initially earned gold why not give it to both any other sport would have. Examples would be two silver medals given for the same track and field event and again two bronze for one of the swimming events.
For the underage question: Not because the US coach says that they had baby teeth and missing teeth but because you could see it. One of the accused was missing a right tooth (looked to be the eye tooth) and when she smiled you could see it. Don’t get me wrong maybe she had to have it pulled for dental reasons, but not likely at that age. Not to mention they looked like baby teeth when they smiled. Also it’s funny how all the old news papers printed ages at 14 and birth dates of 1 Jan 1994 then later retracted and said 1 Jan 1992. It is suspicious how websites were deleted once this topic was put into overdrive.
Now would I say much if a younger person beat me? I don’t know, but if they cheated to do it yes I would.
Here is something to think about, if a US Soldier were to threaten the life of an enemy (hold a gun to their head) to get information that may have just saved the lives of many others, that Soldier would be in serious trouble because it against the Geneva Convention therefore they cheated or disobeyed established rules.
So in short what I think is if you cheat or disobey the rules and you get caught and you get punished.
I will reiterate that I do not think the Americans deserve the gold for the all around, but if the gold were stripped from China then the American ladies would get the gold that’s the rules. If the gold could go vacant and simply not be awarded to anyone I would agree with that too.