Chinese Female Gymnasts - Underage and getting away with it.

Question

Why is the IOC allowing the Chinese female gymnasts to compete in the Olympics when they are clearly not any older than 12 or 13? Why do they get to break the rules. And to use an excuse that they're the ones hosting the games therefore they can do whatever they want, should not be a reason to allow them to do it. It's against the rules and I'm appalled that they are allowed to blatantly get away with it.

Answer 1

Honestly... Who cares? You guys are all douche bags

Answer 2

Because the IOC is a civilian sports organization, one which has no real authority outside of the Olympics. A good chunk of their funding comes from the Chinese government, and they dare NOT cross these people. If they do, they risk having their members imprisoned or thrown out of the country- or worse. Plus, has it ever entered your head that the athletes themselves could and probably will suffer, if any protest is raised against them? I mean, come on, we all know that China treats its athletes as little better than trained animals, and these girls are no different. If someone tries to get them removed from the Games on the grounds they are too young, how long do you think it will be before the government cracks down on them and sends their parents to jail, and the girls themselves to a labor camp?? China has done such things before, you know. This is the country that discovered gunpowder, invented firearms and fireworks, and invented the horrible medical procedure which our media has dubbed "partial birth abortion" as a means of population control. If they want to crack down on their athletes for a perceived insult against the regime, even if the athletes had nothing to do with it themselves, they will- and there's not a damm thing the rest of the world can do about it except watch, and wait for the Games to end.

Look at the way the Chinese sports machine has driven that NBA player of theirs into the ground. This poor guy has two broken feet, an infected toe, and the other day, he was obviously feeling the effects of Beijing's notorious pollution- but they made him play anyway, in spite of it all. The US athletes won, because they were healthy and in much better shape- but what happened to this poor guy was just tragic. There were times when he had to struggle just to take a deep breath- he spent most of the game doubled over trying to breathe and to keep from fainting or passing out from exhaustion and pain. Is this the kind of thing that you think is acceptable? The Chinese government apparently does, sad though it is to say. They could care less what kind of pain any of their athletes feel- the only thing they want is medals, and they expect people to win them at any cost.

China is a nation which has turned into an enormous bully on the international stage. What they can't get by threats and intimidation, they will get by force- period. Darfur and Tibet are prime examples of that philosophy, as is Myannmar, which China is in a position to influence, but refuses to do so. The IOC has neither the strength nor the resources to oppose the Chinese- not without great risk to themselves. So China gets to break the rules- and we get to watch.

Answer 3

this is all they have. dont hate on them. they live in COMMIE CHINA

Answer 4

i compeletly agree... i'm sure other countries have younger girls that are good enough to compete, but they follow the rules and wait until the girls are old enough. on the flip side, there are also other countries who probably have had younger gymnasts as well, but that does not mean any of them should get away with it.

also, for the people saying that being underage does not make a difference, you have to realize that even though they're younger, their bodies have not developed yet and that could be considered a strong advantage.

Answer 5

Maybe we don't know yet.All I know is if they DID get caught then it would be a big shame for the Chinese.AND the Country or countries that helped put the Chinese to "rest" would probably be hated for it by China. I think some of them ARE underage however.But what I am certain about is:

I don't think the age limit should be dropped.Because then Millions of babies probably newborns will be looked at and decided that they WILL be a gymnast or diver ore swimmer or Whatever.They get NO choice or say in it what so ever, neither do their parents.Some kids will lose there freedom if that rule should be dropped.2 year olds would be stretching and being FORCED to do the splits all to make sure they are flexible enough.3 year olds would be pushed off of diving boards.And the love,fun,competitiveness of the Games would be gone.It would just be a HUGE tournament to see who has the most number of "athletes"  that have been stripped of their freedom.Their rights as a person.That's all I feel like typing and have one last thing to say: Go Team USA!!!! And the World!!!!

Answer 6

People who answered "IT DOESN'T MATTER" have no idea of the biological changes that make it much harder to achieve those moves after puberty. The strength may not peak but the flexibility does. From babyhood, girls are more agile than boys, bending to touch toes, and so on. The flexibility of small children depends upon the ratio of length to bulk. Both genders achieve maximum agility between ages 12 and 14 and keep drifting away from that peak afterward. Age does matter because the younger you are the more flexible you are. So how is it fair to compare a child within their agility peak and an adult who is passed their agility peak!  

Answer 7

Good question. I was watching the Olympics when this all came up. You see they get away with it because China's government are the people who give these girls their passports, and on their passports it has their age and weight. The government of China is who lied about the girls ages, and we have no proof that they are underage even though they are. We don't have proof because their passports say that they are teens, and if we questioned their passports we would be questioning the government which are the people who are holding the Olympics. Just like all their athletes are on steriods.....yet we don't have proof. But there is tons of proof in a small way,

Answer 8

were they using illegal substances to enhance performance? o nvm, they're just a few years underage....so whats the big deal?

wouldn't that make them more inexperience and a disadvantage? i think people like you are jealous because she won the gold medal

Answer 9

There is no legitimate proof that the gymnasts are underaged.  its not their fault that asian females tend to look younger than they really are.  the judges are not judging unfairly, the chinese got high scores because they were good and had really hard routines.  they got gold because of it and the fact that america messed up big time.  stop attacking the chinese just because you are jealous and have a serious case of sour grapes.  I know i am gonna get a lot of negs. but I don't care.  btw your "question" is a comment so why don't you go rant somewhere else other than yahoo answers?

Answer 10

All we can do is hope that the IOC will do the right thing after the olympics and award the medals to the real winners. After all, they take them away and re-award for other reasons.  Any other country can enter a formal protest against the Chinese. If they get away with it now, they will try again.

Answer 11

They falsify documents. Why does it matter? The rules should be changed to allow no age requirements. If a 12 year old is the best gymnast, shouldn't she be allowed to compete? I'm not condoning cheating but it is a ridiculous rule.

Answer 12

You mean you don't think they're old enough, even with all the makeup they're putting on them?  Kidding of course. . .  ..I think it's horrible.

I think they should just take the age limit away.  That way, it will at least be fair to everyone, because those that see an opening to cheat will do so.

Answer 13

They are getting away because the IOC accepts passports as proof of age. Which is b*llsh*t. China is the government there they can make the passports. The US could make a passport saying I am a 16 year old girl and the IOC would accept that and let me on the womens team. It is obviously fake yet they do nothing.

Answer 14

i completely agree with you. If you saw the gymnastics final, the judges were completely unfair toward the american team and gave the chinese team very HIGH scores which they didn't deserve,  

Answer 15

The reason the rule was put into place was because they felt that any age under 16 was to risky and not safe for kids so young to do that type of stuff.

The chinese did cheat.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/20...

proof of this. They should be stripped of their gold metals.. but the committee is to weak to do anything. So china gets to get away with murder... Its disgusting and completely unfair.  

Answer 16

The reason it matters how old they are is that other countries who follow the age requirements will not send their best gymnasts if they are not 16 yet.

Answer 17

There is no solid evidence, I don't get why people are accusing them when the newspapers state that they might be cheating. It's not fair to do that.

Answer 18

The problem is that the IOC only has passports to use as documentation of age, and if the government of any given country issues the passport 'fraudulently', they don't have any recourse.

Keep in mind that many Asians and many gymnasts look much younger than their age.  It could just be a combination of factors that make them look younger than they should.

Answer 19

I agree that the rules about age should not be there, however they are and as long as the Chinese ignore this they are cheating and should be stripped of their medal.  

Answer 20

Each team and competitor is expected to abide by a code of honesty. If the chinese gymnasts decide to lie about their age and compete against such a code, they are cheating themselves in the end. The olympic committee can't accuse them of lying about their ages considering they have claimed their age and are expected to be telling the truth. It all comes down to personal morals and ethics.