Chinese 12 year olds

[Redbird Attack]

16 my ass....

[HarveyGlass]

Yeah, but they don't look any younger than all the rest.

Exhibit A...


None of these girls look over 16 and four of them aren't Chinese...

[bling49]

Well they certainly were tall.

I guess when you have a billion citizens of your country you can pick out all the genetic freaks and force them to train 24/7 and create super athletes.

So I haven't been keeping up with the Olympics I am guessing China says their gymnasts are 12 years old?

[Redbird Attack]

16 is the international age limit. The Chinese obviously faked the passports to get their 10-12 year old conditioned freaks into the games. They stole a gold medal from the USA gymnast team the other night.

[Empire Lindy]

Part of me wants to seriously suspect that a LOT of Chinese athletes are skirting the rules (Has anyone seen the Chinese weightlifter who won the silver? He was twice as cut and buff as any other lifter in his weight class.), but I suspect that is in most cases sour grapes. Folks could easily say the same thing about Michael Phelps (the guy has ZERO lower body and looks like a Greek god from the waist up) and from an unbiased point of view I'd understand what they mean.

LOTS of countries have been cheating in the Olympics, the United States included (Marion Jones ring a bell for anyone?). China was dead set on stealing the medal competition from the U.S. on their home turf and probably did cheat in a few events to get that extra gold or a few extra silvers. But we've been no better historically and probably are no better in Beijing.

[Empire Lindy]

Well, RA, you might be right (sorta)... they're actually 13.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...sts/index.html

I wonder if the USAG can petition to have China's medal vacated and the US winner?

[bling49]

Originally Posted by Empire Lindy

I wonder if the USAG can petition to have China's medal vacated and the US winner?

Apparently the USAG has no power here in this case.

"This is not a USAG issue," said Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics. "The FIG and the IOC are the proper bodies to handle this."

So the USA has a 42-year old female swimmer but in gymnastics the cutoff age is 16?

Why such a disparity between the two sports, I don;t see a need to limit their age at all.

Each country should have tryouts and send their best athletes, regardless of age.

I'm more concerned that China has a female athletes with the first name of He.

He herself told reporters after Wednesday's final that "my real age is 16. I don't pay any attention to what everyone says."

[Empire Lindy]

It's an age minimum, and apparently dictated by the advantages that younger gymnasts have over women who have started or gone through puberty. According to another article I read, having undeveloped hips allows younger gymnasts to do more flips and complete more complicated tricks than their developed counterparts. The article said the same rules are in place for figure skating.

In a sport like swimming, you'd never see younger children even compete because the skill is in strength. A child is never going to be stronger than an adult with equal athletic skills.

The article I mentioned also made a commentary on the "ick" factor of putting children out there for gymnastics. He talked about the floor exercise and how it's a little disturbing to have a 12-year-old dancing around in tights in front of a bunch of Olympic judges and fans. I don't think that was necessarily a point for the age limit, but more an observation of how he felt watching the Chinese gymnasts who are (allgedly) under 16.

[nmcardsfan]

Originally Posted by HarveyGlass

Yeah, but they don't look any younger than all the rest.

Exhibit A...


None of these girls look over 16 and four of them aren't Chinese...

Not trying to border on pedophilia but in comparison at least the Americans have some womanly shape to their bodies...

FWIW the second woman in line for the US team is 20..

I think China cheated and got away with it..we shall see if anything comes of it.

[Judge Dredd]

Originally Posted by nmcardsfan

Not trying to border on pedophilia but in comparison at least the Americans have some womanly shape to their bodies...

FWIW the second woman in line for the US team is 20..

I think China cheated and got away with it..we shall see if anything comes of it.

wish granted

China is asked for proof of ages
More documentation on gymnasts sought
From wire dispatches • August 23, 2008

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BEIJING -- In an effort to resolve lingering questions about whether China's female gymnasts were eligible for the Beijing Olympics, the sport's governing body asked the Chinese Gymnastic Association yesterday to submit more documents verifying the age of five of its squad's six members.


Those athletes -- He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, Deng Linlin and Yang Yilin -- contributed to four of the six medals won by China's female gymnasts.

The action represents a departure for the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), whose president has insisted throughout the Games that the governing body had no need or responsibility to go beyond an athlete's passport data to verify that a gymnast was at least the sport's minimum age of 16.

But pressure for FIG to take a more assertive stance grew amid new media reports that several Chinese gymnasts are 14. A spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee confirmed that the IOC had asked FIG to examine the discrepancies in hopes of putting the controversy to rest.

Also yesterday, Jim Scheer, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee, said the USOC sent a letter to the IOC requesting that it "expeditiously resolve" the issue.

"We believe in fairness for all athletes," Scheer said in a news conference. "And the IOC and (FIG) should take measures to make sure the issue is put to rest one way or another."