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.
Too late for that. I personally am having a hard time understanding why simply allowing a country with the human and civil rights violations China has in recent years to host the Olympics didn’t suck any remaining meaning out of it.
China forces citizens to abort babies. Lying on an IOC app pales in comparison to that and other attrocities. When they stop enslaving Christians to make all the cheap plastic junk we Americans seem to think we need, I’ll start expecting fair play in international athletics.
Remember the East German “women” athletes?
Commies/Socialists have to cheat to win which is why our Democrats act like they do.
/sarcasm
I’m not terribly annoyed by this. So what if they’re underage? If they perform their art (naturally, w/o drug enhancement) and are the best at it, then they’re the best at it. While I understand the rationale for having an age limit, that starts to move into the child’s rights realm.
From a sports point of view: at a competition meant to determine the best, it seems pretty lame that you can only be the best once you turn 16.
And why 16? Why not make it 53 if we’re picking numbers out of the air?
One reason to enforce the age limits would be to keep a level playing field. A young undeveloped child would have completely different aero-dynamics than a maturing young lady. Guarantee you my gradeschoolers can do a better cart wheel than I. 😉
Come on people, everyone cheats in the Olympics… in the Tour D’ France, in The Kentucky Derby, in the Super Bowl, in The World Series… and even World Cup Soccer.
There is too much money in sports and sports advertising to allow it to be fair. Hell, just last year those NBA refs got caught fixing games. You don’t think Baseball umpires do, too? Olympic judges? (Rush Limbaugh in considering purchasing the St Louis Rams, although he is Steelers fan: You don’t become a owner because you like or love the sport, that’s for the fans, an owner is in it to make money”)
What the theme this Olympics? It’s not the victory it’s the struggle… How idyllic!
You want to watch real fun and competition, the real agony of defeat and thrill of victory? Watch grade school aged kids. College and Professional sports are all about “the show”. Even High Schools are becoming more and more mercenary.
Diane is exactly right. Remember Olga Korbut and Nadia Comaneci? With their tiny, ultra-flexible, boy-like bodies, they could flip and fly around like hummingbirds. Both of them ran into difficulty when they began developing more womanly bodies, with the natural weight gain and change in center of gravity. It’s just not fair for the teams that obey the rules to have to compete against pre-pubescent girls. I personally don’t think 16 is unreasonable, but if it is, they should change it. Whatever age they decide on, they should enforce it.
Same thing happened with the girl of dh’s dreams, Oksana Baiul.
Being able to skate was the best thing to happen to Oksana:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oksana_Baiul
Korbut had some alcohol problems but from what I understand she is doing fine raising a family in Florida.
Right, LVB, it’s all about winning,
let’s not be concerned with any fool
notion of children’s rights or human
rights. Let the Chinese do whatever they
want. And just keep pretending this is
just normal athletic competition.