CNN报道中国女体操运动员年龄造假
Chinese news service reported that gold medal gymnast was 13Story Highlights[*]Last November, Xinhua cited He Kexin as 13 and "this little girl"[*]AP found report on Xinhua's site, but page is no longer accessible[*]He and Chinese gymnastics officials insist age was wrong and unverified
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If the Chinese news report is correct, gold medalist He Kexin is two years under the age of Olympic eligibility (16).
Al Tielemans/Sports Illustrated
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BEIJING (AP) -- 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, 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. (Judge for yourself here, and offer your reactions here.)
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."
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."
IOC turns blind eye to controversy over China's kiddie gymnastsStory Highlights
[*]China swore on its stars' passport stamps that its gymnasts are the legal age of 16[*]The IOC is reluctant to offend the host country by investigating suspicions[*]With Kool-Aid running through their veins, the Chinese kids were unflappable
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China insists that its gold medal winners -- (from left) Cheng Fei, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng Linlin -- are all 16 or older.
AP
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BEIJING -- The Chinese gymnasts could have picked out their leotards from Thumbelina's closet as they performed gymnastics in miniature on Wednesday. Wearing blue eye shadow with their hair pulled back, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Yang Yilin looked like girls who had just rummaged through their mothers' makeup. This was a ladies' final, though somehow it was hard to see how they qualified as women.
Amid pre-Olympic hand-wringing over why the birthdates of He, Yang and Jiang didn't jibe with other registration materials that showed they might be as young as 14, China swore on its stars' passport stamps that the tots are the legal tumbling age of 16. But while the tiny trio helped their nation whisk the gold medal away from a suddenly clumsy U.S. group in the team competition, it was impossible to deny the visual evidence of something unjust in China.
Just take a peek at the big lugs who stood next to the Chinese team. The U.S. squad is filled with women who are short to be sure, but with a curve to their bodies, muscle on their bones and driver's licenses in their wallets. This is gymnastics, so truth in aging is often blurred by a brutal sport laden with underdeveloped teens. With that context, did little He look sweet 16 in the eyes of other competitors?
"No, but then I don't look 20," said Alicia Sacramone, who did not make excuses after she fell flat while mounting the balance beam. With the U.S. just one point behind China heading into the last rotation, Sacramone ended up on her backside during the floor exercise. It was a mistake that effectively put gold out of reach and delivered a consolation silver to the U.S. "It was my fault," she said.
Blame-shifting is easier for others. While Sacramone revealed grace, U.S. coach Martha Karolyi revealed her doubts, feeding the age conspiracy issue by saying, "I have no clue . I cannot make that call. ... It could be true. One little girl has a missing tooth."
This dental obsession must be a Karolyi family trait. Her husband, Bela, made a similar assessment last week before the competition began, bellowing, "Look in their mouths. It's like itty bitty teeth."
The investigation into the mouths of babes has been far from intensive. Basically the international gymnastics federation agrees with the birth date evidence provided by Chinese officials. And that is that. The Olympic caretaker of fairness, the IOC, has stayed largely out of the debate, with its members ever cautious not to offend host China. They see blue skies when others see pollution. They distanced themselves from Olympian Joey Cheek when his visa was revoked. They don't dare rattle sponsors who crave the consumer love of 1.3 billion people.
This brushfire is not politics, though the IOC has acted as if it is. The age suspicion is a field of play issue. Any violation of the age requirements is an act of cheating, an issue that the IOC has always cared deeply about, particularly when it comes to doping.
" is a bigger problem than doping," Bela Karolyi said. "I think it's more cheating than doping. To look in the eye of everybody and to show up with a team underage? My god, it's not good."
No amount of Bela-aching is likely to alter the outcome. The last time IOC president Jacques Rogge meddled with the medals was at the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. In a rush to soothe North American audiences who, along with NBC commentators, went crackers when the beautiful Canadians lost the pairs skating gold to the Russians amid the French judge scandal, Rogge allowed a duplicate gold, bending to public rage. Never mind that the Canadians performed an inferior program to the Russians.
So do not expect a peep out of the IOC this time, no matter how angered American fans might be. If Rogge & Co. were ever going to stick their noses in this delicate case, it should have been last month when The New York Times raised the contradictory age calculations for the Chinese gymnasts.
"It's not an even playing field," Martha Karolyi said. She understands that China was the better team in the finals. She knows the U.S. sabotaged itself with missteps. But she is right. Age has a lot to do with what's level in gymnastic competitions. There is a mental advantage for youngsters who are clueless about pressure, unaware of what wobbles the burden to win can create. Maybe that was Sacramone's problem. She is a veteran at 20 -- ready for bingo in gymnastic years -- and old enough to know what one flawed moment can mean in a team competition. Halfway through the team finals, she came unglued. "My nerves got the better of me," she said.
The young seem immune to meltdowns. With Kool-Aid running through their veins, China's gymnasts were unflappable -- especially He in the uneven bars. What an edge she had at 4-foot-8 and 73 pounds, flitting through the uneven bars with jaw-dropping release moves, light as a dragonfly. The judges adored He, whatever her age.
"I don't want to make a comment on that," said Liang Chow, the coach of American Shawn Johnson. "I believe the officials will deal with it. I'll leave it at that."
Gymnastics officials have dealt with it -- approving the age of China's gymnasts based on China-issued papers. The IOC blindly bought into this resolution, unconditionally devoted to China, seeing no need to doubt its flying Thumbelinas.
感觉美国人在妒忌中国的金牌。 美国教练这段话挺可恨的。
So do not expect a peep out of the IOC this time, no matter how angered American fans might be. If Rogge & Co. were ever going to stick their noses in this delicate case, it should have been last month when The New York Times raised the contradictory age calculations for the Chinese gymnasts.
"It's not an even playing field," Martha Karolyi said. She understands that China was the better team in the finals. She knows the U.S. sabotaged itself with missteps. But she is right. Age has a lot to do with what's level in gymnastic competitions. There is a mental advantage for youngsters who are clueless about pressure, unaware of what wobbles the burden to win can create. Maybe that was Sacramone's problem. She is a veteran at 20 -- ready for bingo in gymnastic years -- and old enough to know what one flawed moment can mean in a team competition. Halfway through the team finals, she came unglued. "My nerves got the better of me," she said. 没看懂，他们的证据是什么？ 别的论坛看过翻译版的了
不奇怪，这儿白人根本看不出中国人年龄，所以我也有幸还能装几年嫩 不做假才不正常:-D :-D 我们中国人相比白人看上去就是小，我把我的岁数说小一倍他们都信，呵呵，装吧....... 我在国外都没人相信我的年龄 『服了』 随便他们怎么说，神经病，奥委会都没说话，记者没事儿找事都
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