What do you think about the infant girls who won GOLD for female gymnastics?

Question

Do you think they will eventually find out they were all 9 years old and take away the Gold metal?

Answer 1

Her passport shows her as age-eligible. The prior report of her age from nine months ago claims to be a mistake. Seeing as there is no solid evidence that she is underage, no-one can strip her of a medal.

I think it is US sour grapes because China has twice as many gold medals as the US.

And now all the drug-built athletes from America's past, will they be stripped of their medals, or is it about who can do the best cover-up job?

Answer 2

I am gonna enter my 1 year old next time around, she can already do an awsome balancing act. (she just learned to walk) and on special occasions a sumer sault!  

Answer 3

see, this is why I preferred the Coliseum death matches to the Olympics! They showed who was truly superior, and they were much more entertaining.

Answer 4

They're not infants. The fact of the matter is that youth and prepubescence work in the favor of female gymnasts. They're smaller and more flexible. Besides, if this rule of being the minimum age had been in place at the Montreal Summer Olympics, then Nadia Comaneci never would have scored her perfect "10"s. She was 14 at the time. Four years later, at the Moscow games, she won two gold medals and a silver. She had gone through puberty by then and wasn't as good as she was four years earlier.

Answer 5

If they are cheating, then they deserve to lose their medals. At the same time....if they really are underage, part of me thinks that they almost deserve the gold. I mean, if they are such good athletes that they can outperform adult women who've been studying gymnastics longer....that's impressive. Know what I mean? But yes, I'm sure the truth will be ferreted out and they will lose the gold if they really did cheat.

Answer 6

It's illegal, obviously, but I don't see the point in punishing these girls because of bureaucracy. Punish their coaches instead.

Answer 7

EDIT: OIC ~ "China is cheating". Lots of countries could be accused of this.

~*~*~*~

Most female gymnasts are quite young, but none of them are exactly 'infants'.

I doubt most of them regret their chance to shine at the Olympics, in fact they would be most unusual if they did.

Having met several Olympians through a former job, I can say they were all very proud and honoured to have participated in the Olympics and the one of them who had won a gold medal considered it a total highlight of his life.

Of course, it's also true that in the past there was some abuse of these youngsters (and other sports people), such as Nadia Comaneci, through drugs, steroids, harsh training methods, etc, but things have been cleaned up a lot these days and most coaches are aware the super harsh methods are less effective than other forms of training, too.

Cheers :-)

Answer 8

He from China is 14 years old. It has been proven through TV interviews from a year ago and website articles from earlier this year. I hope she and her team are stripped of their medals, and China is punished for cheating.  

Answer 9

They know already what age those girls are and I think its disgusting.

China are a big country and they can get away with whatever they want. They have athletes on drugs every year and nothing is ever done

Answer 10

Was wondering about this the other day....and maybe someone can explain how this is an advantage to the Chinese, and unfair to the other teams.

He is 14, I know that the min age limit is 16.  Wouldn't the fact that He is young be a disadvantage?  She had less year to practice her form, build strength, and moves.

I could see it being an advantage if the snuck someone older then the limit.

idk dispite ages being under I hope they dont take that metal away.

Now the wrestler that threw a hissy fit and threw his bronze metal....

Answer 11

nope, the Olympics are all politics and it no longer matters that a communist nation abuses children. Why should we care if they make them do gymnastics when we don't care about all the products we import that are made by slave children in factories.

Answer 12

Rose, body placement changes as you get older. A 16 year old has wider and fatter hips than a 14 year old. There are certain tricks in gymnastics thats are banned for certain genders simply because weight placement make it more dangerous (and harder) for them to do. For instance the Thomas Salto is banned in womens but not in mens. A woman is more likely to be injured doing that trick because her hips force her to the ground while men have bigger upper bodies so its safer. Same thing with those mid air side ways tumbles, those are safer for women.

The younger you are the more gender neutral your body is.

Oh and as for the question. They'll probably let it go. China has been pulling some sh*t this year huh? Were supposed to forget it so we don't disgrace their country. Its funny because they're all about pride. Hush hush I suppose.

Answer 13

They did look very young.

Answer 14

I have to agree with Bela Karolyi.  If countries are going to cheat on the passports of athletes about their age, then they should just do away with the age requirements.  Since there are child actors who work for a living I see nothing different about child athletes.  It is wrong because it is against the rules as they stand now.    

Answer 15

There will be always those that prefer to cheat than earn it.

i.e. Little League World Series, Tour de France (not Lance), MLB, NFL, NBA, etc  

Answer 16

A little hard work and discipline never hurt anyone. I was in gymnastics when I was that age my dad made sure I never quit.

Answer 17

i think age should not be an issue anymore, after all they performed on an even scale.

the asians should benefit and suffer alike from their physical difference to caucasians.

i see no reason to deprive anyone from competing in 1500m swimming just because he can breathe underwater.. do you?

Answer 18

Honestly I'm not that concerned with it. I'm more concerned about the child labor in that country. A child putting in some hard work in a sport doesn't bother me that much but a child putting in hard work in a dangerous factory concerns me very much.

Granted cheating is quite stupid but I don't think the U.S. or many other countries have room to point fingers when we have such dirty hands ourselves.

A young age doesn't give someone much of an advantage in gymnastics except for the fact their body mass is a little less and they are naturally a little more flexible. However, this can be achieved in an older person with lots of training and conditioning.

Chinese men and women generally look younger than men and women from any other race of people. Their small frame and size is one big factor in this. I read somewhere that the average height for a female asian woman is 5'0. Now I don't know how true that is statistically but through observations of my own, it's not a surprising conclusion to come to.

Like most cheaters in the Olympics, if they are cheating then they will eventually be caught. If they take away the medals then that is just punishment for breaking the rules but I do hope the girls are given a chance to compete in the next level when they are of age.

edit:

However, I do wonder if China wasn't doing so well, would anyone really be complaining about their ages?

I think the IOC should do an investigation into the matter. Figure out what their ages are and either take away their respective medals if they aren't of age or go on record to clear this matter up so their reputations and fantastic performances will not be further tainted.

Answer 19

Leave it to China. They don't do anything right.

Answer 20

Chinese girls tend to look young and for gymnastics the minimum age is 16yrs in the year of the olympics. I'm sure they were all background checked.

I'd be more concerned with the female weight lifters, its not normal for a 47kg woman to lift 117kgs.