Do you think they should just let the Chinese girl compete anyway if she can just win?

Question

should it really matter her age at the olympics?

Answer 1

No, she should wait 4 more years and try again.

It doesn't matter how good you are, if you can't follow simple rules.

Answer 2

There was 14 year old gymnast trained by the Karolyis (how ironic) 2 decades ago, and she won a medal as well. Her medal was later stripped I believe, because of her age.

Probably the main reason why I think the Karolyis are complaining about this issue in the first place.

The same investigation should be done on the under-aged Chinese gymnasts.

Answer 3

she should compete. she's definately good enough.

Answer 4

yes.  The rules are there for a reason..The Safety of the Athletes.  The Chinese Olympic Committee is putting these kids at risk for injury

Answer 5

Yes, it should matter. There are rules that need to be followed. If they want to lower the age, fine. But the point is, a rule is a rule and all should play by them.  China was sneaky if they used an underage girl. It proves they only care about winning, even if it means being dishonest.  This doesn't take away from the fact that their gymnasts are incredible.

Answer 6

There is so much age discrimination in the world. People claim the only ones who get discriminated against are the older crowd but the younger crowd gets it just as bad. If you are Olympic quality then you should be allowed to compete no matter what age. There are 5 year old black belts in Karate. If a 5 year old could qualify for the Olympics well excluding him means you are just discriminating. They need to spend less time on young girls doing gymnastics and more on adults doping.

Answer 7

I agree with Marina...

Answer 8

No. It shouldn't matter how old they are. But, the rules say 16 yrs minimum. There's no minimum for swimming, go figure !

Answer 9

i mean in all honesty it does cuz those younger girls r more flexible.... y cnt they just wait til the London Games in 2012...

i think that they shld investigate this n find the truth n if she is n sum of her otha teamates are underage then China shld b sripped of their gold host country or not..... they knwe they were hosting so they shld make sure everything is clean n legal.... n not hide stuff or rufuse investigation....

however it was really rude or the USA coordinator to wait til afta da team competition in which the usa won silver next to china to say sumthin bout this whole thing....

kinda sounds like a sore loser  

Answer 10

She is good enough but its against the rules. I am sure there are many girls out there in all the nations who can compete in the Olympics but just not of age. But you just have to follow the rules. If not for the rules Nastia wouldve prob been on the olympics team in 04

Answer 11

Personally, I think they should just get rid of the rule. But, since they have it, they must follow it.

Again, if it were the U.S. they'd be demanding we don't get a medal. But, now, because it's not, they're saying we're sore losers and it's okay for China.

Double standard.

Answer 12

Since there is a rule, I think it should be obeyed and not be broken.

Answer 13

The concern with age is because of the toll the sport takes on your body. It was rare to see a gymnast over 25 until recently. Oksana Chusovitina is 33 years old and it is very impressive she is at this Olympics, but it is because she took such good care of herself over the years. But it isn't healthy for a girl a girl of 13 or 14 to be doing Olympic level training everyday. Mao Asada, world champion figure skater from Japan, wasn't allowed to compete in the last winter games (she was 15) because the committee felt that the training would be too much for her body and that she had to wait until 2010 Vancouver Olympics. It is in the interest of the athlete's health and well being. There are so many injuries in gymnastics that can happen. Ripped ACLs, meniscus ,ankle injuries, shoulder injuries, etc etc.

Answer 14

shes obviously good enough and shes not under age