Why did the IOC wait so long to investigate the Chinese Gymnasts?

Question

This is my theory: the IOC does not want the Olympics to become like American baseball, which is now defined by steroids, HGH, and scandal. Although there have been many athletes kicked out of the Olympics for doping already, an uncovering of this alleged scandal would be very damaging to the reputation of the Olympics. The Olympics isn't like baseball (yet) in that we're all not wondering who is cheating when we think of the Olympics, but a scandal like this from the host nation (who has put forth an incredible amount of effort to portray a certain image to the world - even going so far as to kick out that 9-year-old girl who sang from the Opening Ceremonies because she wasn't cute enough) would be a huge blow to the Olympics as a whole. Not only that, it would completely destroy the image China has worked so hard to portray. This scandal will overshadow any success that China has had these Olympics, and this is what China will be remembered for. The IOC should have done their job earlier before the story blew up in the press.

What do you think?

Answer 1

I think it's because they wanted to just try to ignore the evidence and hope it would go away.  But now there has been way too much evidence that they could no longer ignore.  I've been hoping something would be done, because no one could ever convince me that little girl was 16.  No way!  They were just hoping for not another scandal to have to deal with, but ignoring it for this long I think has really made the IOC lose some credibility.  Well, that and giving a medal to a girl that vaults and lands on her knees....

Answer 2

Because IOC is fed up with media reporting it everyday. Media is actually pressuring IOC to investigate and IOC has to do it otherwise IOC image will be suffered.

So investigating doesn't mean IOC think China is gulity, it is only trying to shut Media up.

Answer 3

So... what you're saying is that because of this scandal, no one will visit China anymore? China already showed the world that they are a super power economically by the Olympics. I personally don't think this sandal will overshadow everything of the Beijing Olympics. Because it's only one event. But it would be a scandal if an athlete of China was caught using steroids. But then there are many other Olympics where the host city was caught cheating. So when time passes by I'm pretty sure that people will forget these Olympics because I'm pretty sure there will be other Olympics better than the Beijing Olympics in the future.