Chinese Gymnast Underage According To State Report

SEE EVIDENCE THAT CHINESE GYMNAST HE KEXIN IS UNDERAGE

Read the AP's report below:
Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday's uneven bars final.

Yang was also on Wednesday's winning team. Questions have also been raised about her age and that of a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan.

Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games. He's birthday is listed as Jan. 1, 1992.

Chinese authorities insist that all three are old enough to compete. He herself told reporters after Wednesday's final that "my real age is 16. I don't pay any attention to what everyone says."

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Zhang Hongliang, an official with China's gymnastics delegation at the games, said Thursday the differing ages which have appeared in Chinese media reports had not been checked in advance with the gymnastics federation.

"It's definitely a mistake," Zhang said of the Xinhua report, speaking in a telephone interview. "Never has any media outlet called me to check the athletes' ages."

Asked whether the federation had changed their ages to make them eligible, Zhang said: "We are a sports department. How would we have the ability to do that?"

"We already explained this very clearly. There's no need to discuss this thing again."

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) has said repeatedly that a passport is the "accepted proof of a gymnast's eligibility," and that He and China's other gymnasts have presented ones that show they are age eligible. The IOC also checked the girls' passports and deemed them valid.

A May 23 story in the China Daily newspaper, the official English-language paper of the Chinese government, said He was 14. The story was later corrected to list her as 16.

"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."

Comments

[NotaBeliever]

They won. Get over it. If the rules need to be changed (assigning age detectors), it won't be done for this Olympics. Anyone who actually cares about this is free to take it up with Olympic committee ... later.

[sxp151]

This "They're lying because they look so young!" nonsense is embarrassing, especially from a country whose star gymnast (Shawn Johnson) looks like she's 12.

Anyone who's ever seen an Asian in real life knows that Asians tend to look younger than their actual age. They learn to deal with it; why can't you?

[WLA]

Thank you, Jimmy the Greek. Back to you, Howard.

[FaceYourFears]

lol

[personalpolitical]

In all fairness, while Shawn Johnson looks young, she looks old compared to some of the Chinese gymnasts.

[RodgerLodger]

If Asians "tend to look younger than their actual age" they look like their actual age, true?

[BearsLeft]

Shawn Johnson has breasts. Probably almost as big as yours.

[mistlesuede]

Actually you are wrong. Because if you look at their teams for the sports where being larger or normal size is an advantage, they have them. If you compare the differences, the cheating has been astounding.

[BigLib]

The one on the end looks like she needs her pamper changed.

[jcause28]

Well, if Tibet and Darfur took a backstage to the olympics, maybe this will get people upset. What a strange world this is.

[personalpolitical]

Hahaha, absolutely right. I do love how the whole world has joined together to pretend China is an angel. You gotta love how we have had sanctions against Cuba for half a decade, and we spout off bellicose rhetoric against Venezuela, or any other country that won't go spread eagle for our corporations, but when a corporate-friendly oppressive regime comes along we are alllll buddy buddy with them. The blatant hypocrisy in our foreign policy is disgusting. It all comes down to big business and profit.

[BigLib]

Having to stop to breast feed might have been a clue.

[mistlesuede]

Thanks for making me laugh because this situation really ticks me off.

[Mort]

There's no way some of those kids are 16. Even when you take into account what training does on their bodies, they're just too young. But since the country is behind the fraud how do you prove it? May have to saw one of their legs and count the rings!

[gahoggafugga]

if these girls are 16, then i'm a 34 yr old software engineer making 2 million a year. with a house on the beach in malibu, a lovely wife, 2 kids and a BMW.

[Monrocsol]

WHATEVER AGE..... THEY WERE FANTASTIC. MORE CREDIT TO THEM.

[Felicty]

They learned well from American Republicans.

Want to win? LIE.

[LiberalBuzz]

You got it. Although I sort of wonder just who learned to lie to win first. Thugs or Commies.

[Lilybart]

They are either under-age OR they were drugged to stop their growth, either of which the Chinese are fully capable of doing to these cogs in the totalitarian wheel.

[personalpolitical]

Whatever, if the youngest looking of them are 12 then I'm Che Guevara. I say we crack one open and count their rings.

So, if even one of their gymnasts are disqualified due to age, their gold in gymnastics is gone right?

[millertime]

Of course some of them were underage...one of them had a baby tooth missing for goodness sake!! I know that gymnasts will have their growth stunted a little bit, but their face looks age appropriate....these girls look like just that, "girls", not young woman

[NotMcCain]

Apart from the (relatively new) "rules issue", do people think our gymnastics team would have been stronger if it was made up of 12 or 13 year olds instead of the team we sent?

The Chinese gymnasts were clearly better--including better under pressure. But, that's another issue....

[WAstateliberal]

Not the issue. First, I am a figure skating fan myself, and don't know much about our young gymnasts waiting in the wings. Younger girls are better at sports like this, and indeed our figure skating team was gutted before the World Championships due to the fact that our best skaters were under age (in other words, we followed the rules). Is the rule stupid, both as to figure skating and gymnastics? Perhaps it is. If younger girls are better, perhaps they should just be allowed to compete. After all, the rule has utterly failed in its goal of getting countries like China to stop abusing children.

But none of this is the point. The team that won gold cheated--period. Would our past track and field athletes have lost if they hadn't blood doped? Unknown. They were in the height of their careers, and possibly could have won anyway with proper training. But that doesn't matter. You cheat, you get booted. Of course, that won't happen here. The passports were issued by the Chinese government. No one can question them. If a government is willing to falsify documents to allow their athletes to cheat, there really is no remedy but shame.

[gdaerin]

that's because they were stolen from their parents at the age of 3. How would you feel if your daughter was taken from you at 3 years old and you were allowed to see her maybe once a year? How would it feel to watch your daughter be raised by the government, raised into a different person entirely than the person you would've raised her to be?

It's time we had two different olympics, one for the barbarians and one for the modern countries that don't steal babies for medals.

[mergina]

They look like grade school children. What do they mean when they say they cannot prove their age? Do they not keep records of birth in China?

[aristippe]

you need to watch a two films "The story of Qui Ju" and "Not One Less." Then you will understand China, that country is so backward especially in rural areas. Birth records hah.

[WAstateliberal]

But the government will just doctor them. That is the fundamental difference here: This is a totalitarian regime that controls the athletes in the country, just like in the former Soviet Union. The birth certificates, I guarantee you, have been destroyed and new ones issued and signed off by doctors who have no choice. And then the government issues the passports. Of course the passports are "valid"--the only measure of validity is whether they were issued by the government. And the government of China is morally bankrupt, as we all know. We don't really believe that a country with one of the worst human rights records on earth is above doctoring passports and birth certificates in the name of national pride, do we? The government of China has been clear that anything less than a gold medal sweep in gymnastics and diving would be unacceptable.

I don't blame these girls--they had no choice. They are taken from their homes circa age three, are handed over to strangers who have no interest in their well being, see their familes almost never, and when they ask to come home are told "no" because they are now the family gravy train. It's very inspiring.

[VolvoBirkenstock]

Looks like the IOC will be busy the next couple of years.

They do strip medals...