I’ve been watching the Olympics, and whenever they show the women gymnasts, I can’t help but wonder if the Chinese girls really meet the age minimum of 16. Well, as it turns out, there’s good reason to believe they don’t. The New York Times reported back on July 27:

The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list [He Kexin’s] birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts — now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache — shows He’s age as “1994.1.1.”

Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an “intercity” competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He’s passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008. […]

The other gymnast, Jiang [Yuyuan], is listed on her passport — issued March 2, 2006 — as having been born on Nov. 1, 1991, which would make her 16 and thus eligible to compete at the Beijing Games.

A different birth date, indicating Jiang is not yet 15, appears on a list of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes includes national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded. Jiang’s national card number as it appears on this list shows her birth date as Oct. 1, 1993, which indicates that she will turn 15 in the fall, and would thus be ineligible to compete in the Beijing Games.

But the smoking gun is to simply look at them. There’s no way they’re 16. No. Way. Not unless they have some sort of growth-stunting disease. Kinda sucks the spirit out of the Olympic games when countries conspire to cheat.