Age of Chinese gymnasts vs. Performance?

Question

Why is everyone focusing on the ages of these Chinese athletes but never on the brilliance and talent they displayed at the competition? Maybe they SHOULD demand an investigation... then these girls will be stripped of their medals...but that doesn't change the fact that the Chinese team gave a gold medal performance.

Hypothetically speaking here, what IF these girls are actually 16+?

Answer 1

Why is it that many do not understand this.

Point 1: Yes, the Chinese are good.

Point 2: Yes, the Americans flopped.

Point 3: There are rules in gymnastics.

Point 4: Rules say you have to be 16 to compete.

Point 5: If you are not 16 but you competed, it means you violated the rules.

Point 6: If you violated the rules, no matter how good you are, you are disqualified.

Point 7: They should investigate this.

Point 8: If they found out that these kids are really 16, good for them, it means they deserve the gold without suspicion.

Point 9: If they are not 16, they should be stripped of their medals.

Answer 2

What does it matter Nastia and Shawn kicked their butts in the All Around Finals yesterday.

Answer 3

they look 14 cuz of the makeup, did u see the purple and sparkly stuff all over them? and if my grandma put makeup on and looked 50 doesn't mean she is 50. they ARE 16+

Answer 4

And their excuse is that younger gymnasts are more flexible and fearless but i dont see it that way coz the american gymnasts are older and they seem to be a lof fearless and definitely doesnt look to me like they have lost their flexibility.

Answer 5

At least four of them ARE of age. They have been competing internationally for the last few years so their age is verifiable! It is just those two newcomers that their age is in question. The team captain Cheng Fei IS 20. She was at the last Olympics so we know she is definitely of age!  

Answer 6

Underaged or not, they are brilliant gymnasts and they deserve the medals.

Let's focus on performance and talent instead of look, bra size or age!

Answer 7

well there not 16 or oplder, because they have has picture examiners determine that at most the are 14. so they should definatley be stripped of there medals

Answer 8

Uh, sure. As if the world will do that to China. Classic losers whining. So what if they are under age-golly, it's CHINA ! The American girls slipped and got beat. They and we have to live with it.

The IOC already said all the paper work looks legit. We all know about paperwork forgery's.

Answer 9

I believe they are of age. They are great athletes.

But if the are younger they can more easily preform gymnastics.

But they are of age and I applaud them.

Congrats China!

Go Team USA!

Answer 10

the younger the gymnast is, the more flexible and agile she is, which places the older gymnasts at an unfair disadvantage.  if the girls are underage, they should be stripped of their medals.  yes, they did an amazing performance, but it doesn't mean that they should keep their medals if they don't qualify age-wise.  if the girls really truly are 16+, then great for them for performing well.  

Answer 11

Edit: From what I saw (and you have to remember American editing and comments) the Chinese gymnasts outperformed the other teams and they have the brightest future in gymnastics (and many other sports). The US team literally had two that performed well, that enabled them to win the silver but in no way did they perform up to the gold standard as the Chinese did..

I have answered a similar question before. If they are 16 then this is still a tragedy of perception and the IOC (for their own credibility) should further investigate to clear up the misunderstanding, if possible.



Personally, I don't think we will ever know if He Kexin or the other two Chinese athletes in question are 16 or not. There seems to be some evidence that they are not.

This is not just a Chinese problem and I am not taking this from a jingoistic, whiny, crying American attitude that people who hate the US always accuse Americans of doing. The Chinese men's and women's teams are incredible and deserve to be admired. However, this may be similar to other scandals that always seem to accompany the Olympics (doping, scoring, cheating) and this is just one more chapter. If the Romanians or Russians were in contention (which they are) and it wasn't the US, I would feel the same way.

No country including the US seems immune from these scandals. I root for the US athletes but once it's over I appreciate the winner whatever country they come from -- if the performance and scoring deserved the win within the rules of the sport.

However, having said this, if they are younger than 16 it seems that dishonesty is, once again, being rewarded. What about the competitor (or country) that is playing by the rules and performing with honor and integrity? And what does it do to the young Chinese girl that maybe is physically injured by the rigorous training (there is a reason for the 16 yr. rule) or has to lie about her age when in all probability that young girl could perform in the 2012 Olympics? What does it do to her self esteem? And what does it do to the sport? Or teach other young people aspiring to becoming an Olympic athlete?  Does it make us better people or worse?

Overall, many counties seem to tie in their own political goals with the personal goals of their athletes.The importance to me has always been the wonderful achievement that "just being an Olympian" must be. Being at the Olympics should be an honor earned and not a victory stolen for the "honor" of the country you represent.

Answer 12

Good point.

It all seems like sour grapes from the USA. Seriously! How can they expect gold when their gymnasts fall on their backs and ***'s all the time? Instead of questioning the age of the Chinese team, perhaps they should consider their own competence?

Answer 13

You get stripped of medals for doping by not following the rules, and being under the required age is breaking a rule so yes they should be stripped of their medals. I would feel the same no matter what country.  

Answer 14

Flexibility and agility are part of the advantage of a younger competitor, but that's not all of it.  The bigger advantage is the fact that as women go through puberty, their hips expand, their b*****s expand and they grow taller.  All of these things make it more difficult to do the twists and flips that gymnasts have to do.

I'm not blaming the Chinese gymnasts ages for why the US lost.  They choked, pure and simple.  I'm actually really getting tired about all the people condemning the Chinese gymnasts before they have been proven guilty and ignoring the fact that the US choked.  Should there be an investigation?  Yes, for two reasons:

1) The rules exist to create a level playing field for all competitors.  If there exists evidence that someone is cheating, especially to the extent that the Chinese government has been accused of cheating, then it needs to be investigated, and if the allegations are proved, then the people who were complicit in the cheating need to be punished.

2) In the event that they are 16, then a fair investigation will prove that and remove all speculation, allowing us to celebrate the performance of the gymnasts properly without having the age discussion enter into it.

Answer 15

The girls are NOT 16.  China cheated and cheaters should be penalized.  IOC states that, "the age limit is 16".  I'd feel the same way about any other sport played anywhere, and I'd be angry if I ever found out that one of our own was underage.

China puts there kids in olympic "boot camp".  For some reason they think that you can train a kid to do something that true athletes are born with.  Yes, those girls are good...why?  Because they are underage they have an advantage over the other girls.  They are more nimble, more flexible, and less likely to show as much error.  That is why this is a "big deal".  Not only is it cheating, it is not fair to the others who are following the rules.  Yes, we did win and I'm proud, but we did not cheat.  In fact, Nastia Liukin received a totally unfair score in the beginning of the finals and Yang Yulin should have not gotten one of the scores she received.

Yeah yeah, so the chinese girls performed well.  But they are not of age and that is grounds for cheating....which is why they should be stripped of their medals.

I can't see why they can't follow the rules and wait 4 more years.  It's not like they can't improve in that amount of time.

Honesty is key.  If you can't be honest, you should be punished.  China has done this in the past....they can most certainly do it again.

Answer 16

The rules are the rules. They apply to everyone or no one. It so figures with the Chinese. Why is this even a question? It's because the Chinese' values are very different from Americans' values. (at least in theory) I don't even care because China is not a country that I would ever trust 100%. I don't even trust America 100%. Isn't it only the rich and well to do that compete or are even able to compete?