August 14, 2008
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Chinese Cheaters
The gymnastic team from China won the gold medal for gymnastics in the Olympics.
The problem is that a person has to be 16 years old in order to be in the Olympics. It is being reported that one of the girls on the Chinese team may have only been 13 years old as of last November. So she would be too young to be in the Olympics. Here is the link: Link
Do you think the Chinese team should lose the gold if the girl was underage?
Comments (185)
yeah… gotta follow rules, even as the host country.
and your profile picture is pretty darn confusing, hahaha
yep. you can’t change the rules for one person. the same rules should apply for everyone.
yeh, not just ’cause of the rules, but also because of child labor laws
The IOC will award the gold to the U.S. if this is true, but I think our team would let them keep the medals out of sportsmanship. Regardless of age, China’s team still performed better than ours.
Definitely. Rules are rules. I’m sure we had some 13 or 14 yr olds who were stronger than our team’s.
Yes. It’s against the rules.
Chinese girl says: SCREW THE RULES, I’M CHINESE!!!!
Any team that breaks the rules should be disqualified. But the IOC claims all the Chinese athletes are legal.
absolutely !
rules are rules man. they should totally lose it.
Yes!!
Xo
Of course. Rules – if they’re reasonable – have to be followed, or there’s no form, and so no meaning. Gender rules are important too. How come this new profile pic? Are you – like the guy in Silence of the Lambs – concerned with transformation?
yes… i admit this woefully just because i believe if she rocked it, damn it, they deserve it!
and your profile picture is scandalous. are the subscribers pouring in?
I thought they all need to have official passport to prove they are over 16.
gotta follow the rules yo
It will be interesting to see in months to come if there is an indepth investigation to prove that the Chinese cheated. But really, every country probably cheats somehow.
yes. why should they be exempt from the rules?
Rules are rules, but I have to stand in awe that a 13 year old was an Olympic gymnast.
I am just Benjimon’s wasted life.
He Klexin is pretty hot for 13
if it were the USA we would be stripped of all medals that they won illegally. They should suffer the same thing….
Yes.
I don’t agree with the rules being there in the first place, but if other countries adhered to them, and China didn’t, then they had an unfair advantage and should be disqualified.
Politically, and technically, yes. Rules are rules and cheating is unacceptable in something as significant as the Olympics to sports worldwide and peace between countries.
But personally, I think they deserved the medal. The rules need to change. The Chinese may have cheated but at least they gave us a show instead of the dry stuff the U.S. team does. And this girl was fantastic.
@Konrado - Seriously?
She looks like a boy to me. Broad shoulders, flat chest, no hips.
Absolutely! And I am of the opinion that more than one of those young ladies is too young to participate.
Yes, but it probably won’t happen even if its true. The IOC is fawning too heavily over China to disqualify any of their athletes.
They should absolutely lose the gold! But they won’t, you know. It’s not just the girls, the coaches, or people intimately involved with the team – it’s the country that is behind the deception. No one, not even the US, is gonna have the balls to cross them on this one.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - they are all pretty flat, I liked her face
well, although i am Chinese, i really don’t think that this is fair, also,
it hurt seeing how the girls train
I don’t really care about the Olympics, the Chinese, or whatever pedophiliac comment the shock-commentors are going to come up with this entry; I’m just going to say I still think that Spain thing was fuckin’ hilarious.
personally , i think the rule should be changed. if that girl was good enough to beat someone who was 16+, why should it matter?
If she’s that good at 13, I’m sure she’ll be even better by sixteen as long as she doesn’t injure herself…
Gotta follow the RULES.
I love that people are freaking out about everything. Like the Olympics is going to start a WWIII.
of course. it’s cheating. it looks to me like there’s definitely more than one of them who’s too young.
wow .. underage and extremely talented?! give them another gold medal.
watching it now it’s completely obvious that they fixed this competition and screwed over our two American ladies. What a travesty!
China can go to hell!
Yes!!
I am sorry but rules are rules…we all have them…and we should all follow them…even tho some don’t…other times the medals have been revoked for not following the rules…why should they be any different?
I watched ALL of the women’s gymnastics in the olympics. There is NO WAY in hell that at least 3 of those girls were 16. NO WAY! But all that aside it was obvious they were going to win because of many mistakes/falls made by the USA team. If those didn’t happen though they would have won hands down.
There’s nothing to prove that they’re not of age to compete in the Olympics so their medal will most definitely not be taken away. Besides, all the other countries are just jealous.
Didn’t they try to cheat a few years back by trying to influence the judges by having their gymnasts wear super skimpy suits? I suppose I’m leaning towards Jesse Ventura’s take on competition, “Win if you can, lose if you have to, but always cheat.”
Should you lose props for having an asian girl as your profile pic? I say yes.
No. It only makes it all the more amazing.
It’s only cheating if the U.S. does it.
first it was the anthem singer kid…and now this? tsk tsk. sayang.
I thought you were Darlene for a second there, Dan.
All countries should abide to the official rules and regulations of something as prestigious as the Olympics. Regardless, the Chinese gymnastics team performs extremely well and deserves their place on the medal stand.
mm i think they should.
although i wouldn’t call it “cheating” per se, because they didn’t necessarily do something to gain an unfair advantage. i mean, if she is 13, they lost to a 13-yr-old gal. wouldn’t that really mean China had the disadvantage?
and i just have to make the point that i get mistaken for a high schooler all the time, and 23 going on 24. i think asians are just young looking in general. when i was 16, i was definitely mistaken for a middle schooler often. and even the american gymnasts look younger than their ages, so the asians probably more so.
Yea, follow the rules
@whataboutbahb - lol, in watching i mean come on. that girl is way too young. i liked Lukin the best thus far. i am gonna watch carefully.
also to point out, i can’t blame the girl here. but the country for this. they took advantage of an innocent kid.
Yes and I believe there’s another one on that team who looks too young as well, not just one girl. The problem is the Olympics only recognizes passports and those are easy to fake…at least in China apparently.
Isn’t the whole point of the Olympics to have everyone come together and get along in peace. Cheating kind of shows that you’re not willing to do so. It says to me that China just wants to prove it self to everyone at whatever cost. They should be banned from the Olympics!
yes and very few of the girls look to be 16.
its the chinese government…basically they can make it look like the girl is 16…and we couldnt do anything about it. Cheaters…grr
Yes, China should lose its medal if that girl was underage. Girls who are 13 or 14 have a huge physical advantage over those who are 16, so it’s totally unfair for China to put up such young gymnasts while other countries could not.
I think so, it’s not fair to other countries who might have had 13 or 14 year old potential competetors. Plus, if they lied…then that’s just wrong.
YES!
And have you seen the chinese girls? They definitely do not look 16.
No. If they won that gold with her- imagine what they’d have done with someone of age.
Yes, I think it’s unfair that they could have her, but we couldn’t have gynmasts that age. but they deserved the gold irregardless.
Hells yea!!! get rid of their cheating asses!!!
Dan, you need a haircut.
Yep. Definitely.
I don’t understand why they want girls that are so much younger anyways…don’t they want girls with more experience?
Yes, but the IOC and other Olympic organizations have no backbone to stand up to the Chinese. Does press freedom mean anything?
they should still have the medals!
Yes! She looks like 12 or 13 years old to me.
any official proof?
I’m chinese, and i agree that if the girl was underage she should be disqualified, but (a) she only MAY have been too young, and (b) if the rules are that people can only participate in the olympics when they’re 16 or above, then what about that english diver, Tom Daley, born in 1994, who have been participating in the olympics 2008, but nobody had said anything about his age?! WTF.
the rulesin this case are written in stone and must be followed for the sake of everyone competing. lying always comes back to bite you in the butt.
yea.. They were awesome.. but like everyone else has been saying.. you need to follow the rules.
Duh, YES. Why should they get to break the rules?
i think that’s fine. But no one was able to explain why a 13 year old had a significant edge over a 16 year old. When asked, the commentators said “younger girls don’t have pressure they just go out there and have fun.” These “commentators” CLEARLY do NOT know what it’s like to be in communist China.
Yes. Some of those girls don’t look a day over ten.
To add to all this, the balance beam scores tonight in the individual competition were messed up. The commentators were getting pretty upset.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - she’s only 13. puberty probably hasn’t even hit her yet.
I would allow them to keep the victory on the grounds that regardless of age the overall performance was warranting of gold.
Yeah they earned it, but if the girl was under sixteen…
rip the medals off from China.
Yes, I think so, because the rules should be followed, but on another note, I think you should be able to be any age to compete in the Olympics, as long as you’ve proven yourself to be the best.
I see a lot of posts where people are wondering why the Chinese chose 13 yr olds over older girls. Well in my opinion, they did this as a way to gain advantage because being that young allows you to be more flexible and probably have an easier time balancing, etc. Also, getting older, you naturally gain more weight or lose flexibility that you had as a kid. I think it’s totally unfair. It’s a worldwide event. Not abiding by the
rules just shows the whole world how much we care about them.
irrelevant, however rules are rules….
yeah… gotta follow rules, even as the host country.
^^
couldn’t have said it better myself.
give them the benefit of the doubt….
how did they get a 13-year-old into the games in the first place?…don’t they check, double check, and triple check that?…well maybe not, but still…don’t they run a thorough system?
asians just look younger than caucasians
must be a misunderstanding or mistake
especially those gymnasts…
I’d think they all look 10 to me
Only if her contribution was what earned them the medal. If she was not a part of earning the medal then they should just be fined or something.
I feel kind of bad for the Chinese gymnasts, and most asian people sometimes. I have several friends from Asia, one from Nagaland [a part of India], at the age of 22 stands only 4′ 11″ and 100 pounds soaking wet (because I don’t know more precisely). She is a very little thing and could easily pass for under 16; so I wonder if any of the girls are underage or just look it.
Do they feed this little girl?
According to this report on GMA, a forensic artist says there is no way they are 16 and if it is found out.. they should lose their gold metals. Cheating has consequences. It is sad too since these little girls were taken from their parents at a very young age, treated like science experiments and used their entire lives. A couple of them look a bit anorexic too if you look at their mouth and teeth. They look very malnourished. Sad… very sad…. I certainly would not blame the girls..I blame their commie govt.
They cheated if the girl is underage and should have been aware. Especially if they are the host country, they should be very strict on themselves.
China’s been doing all sorts of shady stuff lately.
I wouldn’t personally take the medals away…but I guess if rules are rules.
I saw one little Chinese gymnast on tv tonight and I thought she was probably 11.
I didn’t know about the rule….
Absolutely, in every game there’s rules and if you can’t follow them- tough luck!
Yes.
I keep getting confused by your new profile picture, think your posts are someone else’s.
And yes, they should get disqualified. Rules are rules. Otherwise why are they there?
I realize that this particular post is on a completely different subject and actually has substance, as opposed to the others; however, I can’t help but find it somewhat amusing that Dan has posted about Asians, yet again.
I think so, for sure. But no. They will get away with it since China is the host. Ugh.
Rules are rules. Make someone older do what she had to do and if they do it just as well, give it to ‘em.
The rules are the rules, so if she turns out to be 13 then they should lose the medal. I think she probobly really is 16, but if not still it’s amazing that a 13 year old could compete at that level and win.
Your new profile picture makes me laugh.
No, she was the best. And it sure wasn’t her idea!
It’s moot because of the passports. I do think that they should either get rid of the age requirement completely if they can’t really enforce the rule.
No, the age doesn’t really matter, she’s really good anyway.
It doesn’t matter how good they are. The playing field must be level. But more than that, children are too vulnerable to use as trained monkeys. You can seethis in every aspect of society where kids are exploited because of their raw talent. It’s like allowing that eight-year-old to play his guitar in a bar where folks are smoking (Bad for developing lungs) and getting drunk (He sees getting drunk as a daily thing, normal). If Les Paul wants to play with the kid, let him come over to his house, for crying out loud.
13 year old bodies and psyches should not be subjected to that kind of stress. Yes, some kids are ready earlier. But one has to set a bar somewhere. And kids who are that driven will not stop because they’re afraid they’ll be crippled at 40. 40 is forever away.
Yes, ’cause if that’s the case they broke the rules.
Although I tend to think that people think the girls are underage primarily because of their looks.. and I know that that can be deceiving, since I am almost 19 but I’m about the size of a twelve year old, and if I was an athlete I probably wouldn’t have boobs either.
THey don’t care about other people. or their rules. What a wonderful illustration of a people dominated by an evil governmental philosophy. PRAYERS for CHINA! God bless the olympic comittee. and the little girl, betrayed by her country. And the other one, who couldn’t sing.
not only are they cheating by this age issue but i could swear there is a major bias when it comes to scoring….
-adieu, stace
@ayeHEARTyoo - I realize that. Even if she IS 16, she could still be pre-pubescent. Regardless, I was replying to someone who said she was hot. I don’t have anything against her, but I do have something against pedophilia.
If they are found to have been cheating then yes… the same way one is stripped of the gold if found to be using performance-enhancing drugs. This would also make a big statement to the Chinese who would lose considerable face by it.
@Konrado - k, fair enough.
I thought you were one of those creepy people who likes to prey on the young barely-legal type.
But she does have a beautiful face.
Yup.
yes, its cheating, plain and simple
I don’t think there should be an age rule at all to be honest. If you are that young and are good enough to be in the olympics then more power to you. While it is true that they should not have lied about it, consider the fact that there is another team in another event who has a 14 year old and it is not against the rules. It is clearly not against labor laws or else this child would not be allowed to preform. I simply do not see why Gymnastics has an age limit while other sports do not. My own cousin lost out on a chane of going because she was too young, and only by a year. Something I feel is a great diservice to her. I bet if you really did your research then you would find that just about every country has done this at some point. The only reason people are makign such a big deal about it is because it is China and they are not very well trusted anyways.
Yep.
hey, i already posted about this!
and people were mean to me for asking!
but I say that they definitely have to follow the rules. I mean come on, it’s the freaking Olympics.
Yes, cheating is cheating.
if you think about it, it’s probably harder for a 13 year old to be the best in the world. they’re just pissed because they got beaten by a little kid
TOTALLY!
China clearly broke the rules.
Now, give up the gold!
yes
Why do I need those asian women when there’s you?
Yes. I think a few of their gymnasts are underage and they shouldn’t get away with it just because they’re the host country.
i think it was wrong of them to break the rules, but why is the age requirement 16?
If they do take the gold medal from China, that’s okay. But without the age requirement, they still did better, and with a 13/14 year old.
Actually I think there are 3 athletes whose ages are questionable.
Yes, they should lose the gold.
Dan…please bring your other picture back.
@esthareee - “although i wouldn’t call it “cheating” per
se, because they didn’t necessarily do something to gain an unfair
advantage. i mean, if she is 13, they lost to a 13-yr-old gal. wouldn’t
that really mean China had the disadvantage?”
No. Younger girls are (typically) smaller and are therefore able to move with more agility and complete the stunts with more ease. Less body mass, less air resistance.
Aside from that, to the people that disagree with the rule being in place, it needs to be in order to protect children and stop countries from taking advantage of it’s younger citizens. Gymnastics is already a high pressured sport, there is no reason to put pressure of Olympic size onto even younger children. It’s ridiculous.
@bloodxalibi - The age requirements are different depending on the sport. The pressure of gymnastics is, I’m guessing, grossly higher than that of diving. They are protecting the children.
As many have said, the rules need to be followed, and if this is proven true the gold needs to be revoked.
However, this would hardly be an issue had America not choked hard-core in the last two events, but still. If China’s medal is revoked, that means Russia gets one, which would be completely fair.
YES. Those are the rules. Cheating bastards.
Yes, yes and yes.
The rules are there for a reason. Having someone younger allows them to do more difficult and more dangerous movements.
Were they great? Absolutely. But it’s still cheating.
After all this age paper work issue, I don’t even know what the allowable age is any more. So confusing, all of them look like they are barely even 10 yrs old. Oh well…they do say Asians always look younger than their age. HA!
most definately!
yes…it is cheating if they put someone under that age. But when has the rules ever stopped the chinese people
Did the rule for the age limit changed in the last 8 years? I remember back in Sydney(2000) Micheal Phelps was 15 years of age. Born june 30, 1985.
Yes. There are rules for a reason.
@LightningRichy - I agree. I don’t think it’s her fault, she’s been brought up in a country where winning is everything. She was just doing her best, and doing what she was told to do. If it’s proven, then I think China should be reprimanded and the US should let the girls keep their medals.
But nobody on the IOC or the American Women’s Gymnastics team listens to me, so who knows what’ll happen.
I believe they should be disqualify. You can tell just by looking at them that they are under age. My goodness they still have baby teeth. Watch when they smile you can tell that they have baby teeth. So yes I think they should be disqualify. But they won’t be because IOC said they won’t do anything about looking into the case. Because their passports say they are sixteen. But you have to remember who gives them the passports…the government.
Yes. Rules such as that exist for a reason. Subjecting a child to the harsh and demanding regimen needed to produce an Olympian athlete likewise deprives that child of the essentials of family life necessary for proper spiritual development. It also can have a serious physical impact, as a child’s body is still developing as well and is thereby more fragile than one in late adolescence. In communist countries, where the State is supreme, this doesn’t count for much. But it should… and decent people should stand up for it.
Yep they need two stick with the rules.
Yes they should. There’s no reason to break the rules. Don’t even get me started on how they cheated by giving their girls better scores than everyone else, even when their girls wobbled all over the place.
I get so mad everytime I think about it.
I would just detract the points the 13 year old girl had contributed to them winning the gold. If all the other team members were legit, they should get to keep whatever honors were theirs.
lol. i thought she looked too young
and wuts up with the profile pic dan?
I would think that legal proof of age was required by ALL athletes who compete in the Olympics. Just because China ‘says’ she’s 16 isn’t enough. The IOC should investigate and if she is underage, she should have to return the medal. Regardless of her performance it would be considered just as fraudulent as her actions, if she were in fact underage.
@sayJames - if the guy that issues the passports tells you to lie about your age, it’s pretty easy to get an official ID with false info.
if they cheated, then yes. i think it’s funny though that after all the news about china wanting to present a good face for the olympics, scandal after scandal has come up, everything from mundane(faking some fireworks) to telling a little girl she’s too ugly to represent her country so while she still has to sing they will be giving another girl the credit, to potentially cheating. when it comes to best foot forward im afraid i have to give the government a big fat fail.
Heck yes!
Eh. I guess so?
But my opinion is that if someone’s younger, they’d be kind of at a disadvantage since they’d be against people who are older, thus not having as many years of experience. So power to them if they can help get the gold.
More power to her if she is 13. It should make the US strive harder to beat them next time. They got beat in part by a 13 year old. (If she is 13.) That’s sad. Now they want to take the medal from an honestly hard working team (Chinese)when the Chinese really did deserve it. The US didn’t beat them. They should just admit it. They should work harder for next time instead of throwing dirt on the other teams!
Yes. They should give the medal to Canada, since we haven’t won any medals yet.
I defienitley think that she should be kicked off the team and they need to not cheat even as the host country.
yeah. if the girls are underage, they are going against the rules.
If the rules were broken, then yes the medal should be stripped from them. Follow-up question, if it was the US or another western country, would we be having this conversation or would the decision to place penalties on the team already have been made?
The comittee wouldnt dare strip them of the gold—that is until AFTER they left China—otherwise they would probably never get out of China.
Anyone notice the beam scores of Johnson and the Chineese girl directly following her?
Same as many other olympics—the Americans can’t be judged honestly
Most definitely.
Prove it. If it’s not proven then there’s no use in dragging this out even more than it should be. If they broke the rules then they should get their medal taken away. That’s common sense. But don’t throw around accusations when nothing has even been proven.
absolutly. Rules are rules.
yes. apart from the fact that its the rules…
children tend to be more flexible than older people. idk how that would play into other events like volleyball or tennis… but gymnastics, that should definitely be taken into account
yes but they won’t
The age rule was put in place about 12 years ago and it was put in their for a good reason…not because the world feels that 13 year olds aren’t good enough to beat 16 year olds… but for the protection of the child-athlete. China should be ashamed…China as a country has succumbed to a new low in shallowness. America is no longer the most shallow kid on the block, we must turn over our gold medal in this field to China…btw…wouldn’t CHINA have issued the passports of the Chinese athletes egro if China was going to lie about their ages wouldn’t China issue passports to support the lie??
BTW…for all those who made the comments about how amazing it is for 13 year olds to be better than 16 year old…that doesn’t apply in a sport like gymnastics or figure skating, it’s common for the female atheletes in these fields to be their BEST at 12-15.
Who gives a shit. I’m sick of people making a big deal about this. Does age change the fact that the girl worked her ass off and potentially jeopardized her health for the sake of representing her country? What’s done is done. The girl put in a huge effort and it paid off. If people want to continually harass young 13 or 16 (?) year olds because they have nothing better to do, then this is exactly why we need to have people apply for permits to speak.
@bloodxalibi - actually, the age for diving is different: it’s 14.
I guess the way you put it: how can you say no? You are basically asking, if they cheated, should they be allowed to keep their medal. The answer is obvious. So, a lot of commentors said “yes,” unsurprisingly. If you asked, “are these girls really 16?” you might get different answers. Also, I’d like to ask, too — if these girls were US girls, would your answers have been different?
Gymnastics is a tough sport to perform. People don’t train two years prior to the competition; they start when they are very young. A lot of the members of the US team began when they are 3 or 4, and many of them train for years at a time. So, IOC making it 16 may have more to do with physical maturity than forcing kids to undergo strenuous practices. It is easy for people to view the regime as fascist, and to see these girls as being slaves of a great medal machine bent on proving Chinese supremacy, but part of that is to dehumanize these girls, too. A lot of them deserve a lot of humanity, and appreciation for their strenuous training.
In many ways, the Olympics is a testament of human accomplishment. Let’s not forget, that no matter what country’s athletes are at the top, performing next to impossible stunts for our viewing pleasure, give them your aplause, because they have pushed what we can do a few bars forward. The games should be about competition and individual glory, but it is so much more meaningful when we forget about winners and losers, and remember that we are trying to beat the same odds at the end of the day: the forces of nature.
@ionekoa - actually, the problem is that the media has done a lot to bring out these misconceptions. The ticket to the opening ceremony has stated that the song is a two-in-one. The NYT and other sources in the US has made it seem like the poor ugly duckling was slighted. She was told ahead of time, and so was the other girl.
The 29th firework was omitted to make sure that the planes flying over the birds nest photographing the olympics would not get hit.
On the other hand, China has actually other goals than presenting a good face for the west. Why should they care about it so much? They are legit civilization that has rich history. Their economy is booming. If we view their effort at being peaceable with us as some way of getting on our good side, it makes me very unsettled — partly because it reveals a dangerously self-righteous view of ourselves as somehow superior to them.
What is missing is how much people in China have done to try to be friendly to those coming to the country. It is incredible how one civilization can try to do so much for another, in spite of the years of political and ideological antagonism that pervaded the international arena. It is hard for me to imagine that the same generation of Chinese who fought Americans in the Korean War, and the Vietnam war may in fact join together peacefully in Beijing to witness great accomplishments.
It is something significant for our future as people to be able bury the hatchet. Cheesy? Perhaps. But maybe you can say that I have a pro-Chinese slant.
yep, despite popular belief, rules are not made to be broken, they should be reprimanded.
@MCTCanadian - I think you have overstepped the bounds when you said “Chinese people.” Actually, they have followed a lot of rules in the past. It’s like saying “when did the white people ever care about cultural sensitivity.” Perhaps I’m overreacting to your comments, but I think that you are making a generalization there that is hard to back up.
Actually, there’s no sense in being fair about a country like China. It is a luxury that we may never had, and a goal that we have never achieved.
rules are rules
@coffeeiv - It’s hard to level the playing field by age. If the playing field should be “leveled,” then how? Should it be based on body shape? Should it be based on strength? Should it even be based on some immeasurable standards like talent, or attractiveneses. I am not sure how to “level the playing field.”
Technology such as a body suit or a aerodynamic goggles can make a difference in swimming; in that case, should the games also be leveled based on technological availability. With girls who are 13 looking like those who are 16, looking like those who are 20, I am not sure in what way can the playing field be leveled by age.
However, rules should not be ignored. If they are made, then they should be followed. Some contest the arbitrariness of the rules, but perhaps they can make a case against the IOC.
definitely.
@Real_Carebear - I believe that the Chinese gymnasts received better scores because their acts were much more difficult. The new scoring standard of the IOC regarding gymnastics is that the difficulty also contributes to the final scores that the gymnasts receives. The difficulty score is evaluated based on the suit of acts they will perform. A gymnasts actually must submit a laundry list of what they will do during the competition before they compete. They must adhere to this list.
The judges associated with each country evaluate the performance based on different elements. So don’t get angry. Also, we did great! A silver medal is not nearly as good as gold, but our gymnasts did their best and they should deserve the credit that they get.
yep =D
@parsifal_the_red - i wouldnt say that the matters in question reflect on the people at all, but rather the government, and more specificaly the olympic council. the fireworks thing is rediculous, it’s one of those things where you say “uh, who cares? why is anyone wasting their time whining about this?” the singers is a bit heavier. it doesnt matter if they yanked her off the stage at the last minute or told her at her audition that even if she got the spot she wouldnt be allowed to be in the spotlight, you’re sending the message that if you dont fit someones subjective idea of physical beauty, you get to make your contributions from the shadows where you belong while someone else gets the limelight. i dont care if you’re chinese, american, german, british, that’s wrong. as a matter of fact, it’s disheartening to see it happen here particulary because it’s one of the things i absolutely hate about america and most other western societies. as to the topic of this post, it doesnt matter who you are, cheating is cheating. therefore, if it turns out that there was cheating involved the apropriate steps should be taken. if not, then the accusation it’self should be investigated, and if it is found that it was made without merit, then appropriate punative action should be taken on that end as well.
the last thing i would want to do is jump the gun and taint the acomplishments of this young athlete. and maybe that’s the trouble with having children(cmon, 16 year olds, hell most 18 year olds are still kids) participate. governments are made up of idiots who want to win, and will use the hopes and dreams of these athletes to do so. i dont do sports, and i think thats one of the reasons why. when i play a game, yes i give my all and try to win, but i play for fun. if it gets to the point where a young girls dreams can be shattered(i havent followed what the personal lasting consequenses would be for her if it were found she was underage at minimum there would remain the stigma) because of the decisions of a bunch of buerocratic assholes, to me, it’s just not worth it.
putting the rules aside for a brief moment, i would be impressed that someone not even 14 could outperform people with much more experience. i would say the level of talent and dedication it would take to do so should be rewarded. but it seems to me that by allowing such a person to represent them before they are eligible the olympic commity of that nation(any nation that would do so) is risking that persons career and putting at risk their opportunity for a legitimate victory.
what would happen if there was NO AGE RESTRICTIONS in the Olympics?
@ionekoa - very well put!
The girl/girl swap thing — it is rather unreasonable and reflects rather poorly on the way it is handled. I remember watching Singin’ in the Rain and wonder why Kathy Seldon can’t just replace Lina Lamont. After all, she’s not too shaby herself. The realities with this (I guess especially when you have a film director Zhang Yimo as the puppet master) is that reality is not always the most “beautiful.” Many would contend that art IS deception. But we will leave that debate for the philosophers.
@FindingtheSun - then you’d have something very similar to the ’96 Atlanta — where the gold medalist is indeed a 14yo from our country. The rules were made at the end of that olympics, partly because of the injuries that people could sustain during the actual competition (it’s a moot point, because raising the age ultimately did not change much), partly because there was a greater difference in the playing field back then, and many 20yos were competing with supple agile 14yos for the medal.
it was sad when i read that, and yes, they should lose their medal if that was the case. others have lost their medals or banned for rules violations.
Yeah, it’s only fair that they are disqualified if they cheated.
But why are people assuming they have cheated here ?
Not that there isn’t the possibility but we should just respect that they have won it so far. Just because they don’t look of age doesn’t mean that’s how it is.
OF COURSE.
She should be disqualified if she’s any good…..But if she’s not so good at her sport…Leave her where she is……Maybe she’ll help the Chinese team lose to America!!!;D
Yes, why not ?? There are rules, which should be followed.
Yes. They broke the rules. They wouldn’t have won the gold if they’d followed them.
Ditto to what mrcolorful and others have said.
yes. this would be a huge scandal if it were the US.
@la_faerie_joyeuse - Three words. Little. Asian. Gymnast. That leaves no room for puberty =(.
I would say so.
I was watching them last night (at least I think it was last night) and I was thinking that a lot of them looked under 16.
@babydoc13 - And don’t forget the stadium was built ala Egyptian pyramid slave labor.
@childs_dream - Actually, no that’s not sad. In Women’s Gymnastics you get worse when you grow older, not the other way around. Pre-pubescent girls have a huge advantage. This is because at a younger age they have a better strength to weigth ratio and their bones are still developing (not as solid as an older girl) making them lighter and more flexible, which in turns makes it easier to do harder stunts. The added weight/curves of puberty plus the hormonal changes put older gymnasts at a disadvantage to younger ones. Not to mention as one grows older one tends to get more anxious and self-conscious, so they may not feel as much fear/stress/pressure as an older gymnast regarding injuries or failures. Basically, putting in underage girls is pretty much the equivalent of using performance-enhacing drugs.
absolutely
Yes, rules are rules.
YES!
yes they should
Yes
YES.
Actually, they have 3 girls who are supposedly underage.
I’m chinese (well, i live in america) and even I think they should lose their medal for cheating.
If this is what the Chinese government meant by earning other countries respect, I’ll be damned if it ever happens. The girls all have passports that show them to be an eligible age, but many of them received new passports a few months before the olympics. Basically, the government is helping them cheat, so there’s nothing they can do since the IOC doesn’t want to anger China.
If China can’t win without cheating, then they’re really the losers here.
Rules are rules.
That girl knew what she was doing when she entered.
Yes.
The facts are they cheated, they had the information to begin with, the IOC didn’t have the balls to do the right thing. This is worse than doping, it is putting immature girls at risk simply to win medals. This rings familiar to what iron curtain nations used to do, anything to win, even cheating. It is sad and worse than doping because it is government sanctioned cheating. Yes, the government has to O.K. the passports. This is what the chinese people themselves have been fighting, a total disregrd for the people.
yeah they definitely should get the medal taken away, and im pretty sure most of them are probably underage. they all look that way anyhow.