Are Chinese gymnasts underage?

Question

Don't be ridiculous.

How many posts have there been on the same subject?

There has been no evidence. Period. Quite the contrary in fact, yet people still answer with the assumption that the Chinese gymnasts WERE underage. I find it ridiculous that some people comment about human rights when answering. It has nothing to do with this.

Answer 1

Your retarded. Just look at the *****! I even saw her d**n coach having to tie her shoe after the performance. I mean d**n im not being racist or anything but most if not all that team is underage by several years. And if you think I'm wrong than you must look like Gary Coleman yourself

Answer 2

Hm.  Sounds to me like you're just ranting and raving here, not asking a question.  Go write a blog or something.

Answer 3

I think they are.

In the last article written in May this year

Olympic gymnastics title contenders suddenly have one more thing to worry about other than the eight gold medals China claimed at the Tianjin World Cup last week. Her name is He Kexin.

The 14-year-old newcomer to the national team, who was recruited last year, has raised a lot of eyebrows recently after she broke two world records on the uneven bars in as many months

Is that evidence?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/27/sports...

http://english.people.com.cn/90001/90779...

Answer 4

yes they are, or at least two of them, and there is proof, they found an old article of 9 months ago stating the girls ages.......13 and 14

Answer 5

I'm fairly sure they are in the right age range, I know several of them have been competing in other international competitions for some time, so they must be the right age.

Answer 6

There is a lot of very clear evidence that He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan are not 16. The evidence that China provides is "copies of their passports." How hard it is to print up new passports, birth certificates, etc. and hide/destroy the old ones in this Communist nation? Think about what a huge deal this is to China and the lengths they have gone to make this Olympics a success for them. The IOC is ignoring the many public records that these gymnasts are underage, and they are doing nothing more about it which is appalling. Official Web sites in China showing documents of these girls' ages are now mysteriously inaccessible, official media documents and the equivalent of press releases FROM THE GYMNASTICS PROGRAM available to Chinese media outlets that give biographical information on all the athletes have also disappeared, and information in publically-accessible news stories by the Chinese media has been recently changed. Just the "copies of the passports" are presented as proof to the IOC, and they are ignoring all evidence to suggest the passports are not real.

China is doing everything they can to hide the truth because it would not only be a HUGE embarrassment, but every Chinese Olympic success would be overshadowed by this scandal, and that is what the world would remember about China in these Olympics. They have put forth a lot of effort to display a certain image to the world (even going so far as to kick out the young girl that sang in the Opening Ceremonies because she wasn't cute enough). This would destroy all the work they put in and they are not about to let that happen.

There is a lot of proof out there.  Spend some time and you'll find it.

Answer 7

No and I just saw that USA girl Shawn compete and she looks 14 to me I know she isn't but I have 2 girls and she looks way younger than they did at 16 some girls just look younger than they are.

Answer 8

>>There has been no evidence. Period. Quite the contrary in fact<<

There is evidence at least some are underage (see links). The only evidence to the contrary are their passports, which have only been very recently issued by the Chinese government.

Answer 9

yes  

Answer 10

So what the Americans are saying is that their 11-12 years old gymnasts would easily have beaten the Chinese if they were allowed to compete???  

SORE LOSERS!

Answer 11

Actually J is right,you are just ranting.

You must be one of those Chinese fans.

I think its time you get over the fact that your country WAS using underage children

did you realize one of them even showed having a front toothe out,doesnt that only happen when your like 8 or 10?

Or that some of them admitted turning 13 in November of last year,but are now magically somehow 16.

Get over it,no one cares anymore.

here read this:

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/27/s...

If their not underage,then why do their oficial paper list them as young as 14?

Answer 12

huh? yeah they are.

they start when their like 4. thats why there so good we watched a movie like that in history and they live in a dormitory even at that age sometimes and train to be gymnast  

Answer 13

No they are not! Besides, even if they were, does it really matter? Anyway, they do look developed. Some Chinese kids don't develop as fast. Two of my friends have the bodies of an eight year old. And people's teeth can fall out late...really late. I know someone who's last baby tooth fell out at age 18.

Answer 14

Well, as far as I knows, the youngest Chinese gymnasts is 16 years old and the oldest one is 20 years old. Obviously, anyone older than 14 is permitted to take part in Olympic Games. So, Chinese gymnasts are not underage.

Answer 15

That's really hard to answer.  But a girl of 16 is starting to developed no matter what nationality they are.  They look much much younger then 16.   In fact they look about the age of my two daughter who are nowhere around 16.  

My answer would be YES I believe they are younger then 16

Answer 16

There have been inconsistently reported birthdates for three of the gymnasts. China has a state-owned press (i.e. no free press), so the articles about past events where the girls were registered with later birthdates have been removed and suppressed.

If the inconsistencies in birthdates for the three athletes are true, that would make them too young to compete at an Olympic level. Underage athletes have bodies that are not fully developed, which gives them an unfair advantage in gymnastic events. The issue is not that they merely look too young or that they're being exploited. The issue is that there are rules for competition that every country is following except for China.

Three inconsistencies is more than coincidence. It's very likely that the Chinese are cheating.

--

EDIT: People comment on human rights because the Chinese government frequently condemns a free exchange of information and ideas. That violates intrinsic human rights.