China gymnastics gets too much bad rap!

[IllinoisDave]

McGwire and Bonds are suffering a massive self-induced Hall of Fame snub that will last forever. It seems like the Chinese women's gymnastics team will suffer the same fate. They will be loved in China, but everywhere else looked at as cheaters.

 

You're not just a "little" wrong about this, but rather you're completely and utterly mistaken!

 

The China Womens gymnastics team did nothing to deserve with being compared with the likes of illegal drug users like Mark McGwire and Barry Bonds. The young ladies from China have NOT cheated, nor did they disobey any rules. They complied with every request and regulation issued by the International Olympic Committee. The ladies of China simply out performed their competitors and did it without the use of artificial enhancements like illegal drugs.

 

 

The girls themselves didn't cheat and are great athletes. The Chinese officials who train/control them apparently did cheat however. There's quite a bit of evidence to show they flouted the rules and falsified passports so some of the girls could compete.

 

If they were under the allowable age limit as if appears some were, did that give them a competetive advantage over the others who were within the limits? I think that's a question best answered by those more expert on gymnastics than us. But the rules are obviously in place for some reason. And as long as they ARE there, EVERYONE should be expected to comply with them.

 

To compare the Chinese gymnasts themselves to Bonds and McGwire and their ilk is illogical. But to dismiss the issue by saying that they complied with every request and regulation issued by the IOC is a bit misleading. Someone apparently didn't comply with every regulation. And while that someone may have been the adults in charge, I doubt the athletes themselves are unaware of the age limits or their own ages.

 

Did the Chinese girls out-perform the other gymnasts head-to-head on a purely athletic and/or artistic level? Absolutely, at least in some cases. So why not just throw out the age limits and let them all compete against each other woman to woman? From a mere observer's perspective that would be my suggestion. But that brings us back to why the rules are in place to begin with.

 

I don't think the Chinese women's gymnasts themselves will suffer the harsh judgement of history as McGgwire, Bonds etal have. But I do believe the Chinese gymnastics program and those who control it will suffer that fate. And if the allegations are true, they should.

 

It certainly is unfair to compare Bonds and McGuire to the Chinese gymnasts. They just did their best and wanted to win. And if they were asked to give a fake age, it was not within their power to refuse the request of the Chinese government.

 

However, the Chinese government probably took a lesson from major league baseball. In a way, Bonds and McGuire are getting a bad rap here. It's the system controlled by major league baseball and the all powerful players union that gave us a corrupt system that prohibited drug testing in major league baseball for so long. For each Bonds and Mcguire that is being scruitinized, there must be 100 or more juicers on the major league rosters. The players were forced to do it to stay competetive. Everyone else did it and didn't get caught, so most of the rest did it just so they could stay on the team. The Chinese probably learned a lesson from our own professional sports organizations and adjusted their ethics accordingly.

You're absolutely right Mike. MLB and the player's union turned a blind eye for a long time. Especially during the home run race of '98 when he and Sosa brought baseball back from a very low point in it's history.

 

And you're right about them not being alone. They're the poster children for the steroid era because they happened to break two of the most hallowed records in arguably the most statistic-centric sport in the world.

 

But I do think that much of the bad rap they've gotten is much deserved due to their, shall we say, utter lack of candor about their use of those drugs.

[rogerluli]

I just have one question about the Olympics...

 

 

Can't Bob Costas afford a better rug???

[jim_julian]

Yep that rug does look pretty bad ...

[spacebar]

Jim, did mention how nice your wife's avatar looks. A real beauty I must say!!!

 

Yep that rug does look pretty bad ...

[jim_julian]

Jim, did mention how nice your wife's avatar looks. A real beauty I must say!!!

 

Thank you sir, you are too kind.

[Joanne]

I want to understand why everyone are so sure that the girls are underage. I didn't do any research myself, but is there any evidence, or just they look young?

 

As the way Chinese girls raised, they usually look a couple years younger (than same age American girls) when they are in their teens. I am not saying that I know the girls' actual ages if they lied.

[Randy W]

I want to understand why everyone are so sure that the girls are underage. I didn't do any research myself, but is there any evidence, or just they look young?

 

As the way Chinese girls raised, they usually look a couple years younger (than same age American girls) when they are in their teens. I am not saying that I know the girls' actual ages if they lied.

 

 

"But online records listing Chinese gymnasts and their ages that were posted on official Web sites in China, along with ages given in the official Chinese news media, seem to contradict the passport information, indicating that He and Jiang may be as young as 14."

 

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/27/sports/OLY.php

[jim_julian]

Joanne ... unfortunately there is a lot of past evidence that these girls are underage. The IOC accepts passport age without question. The Chinese government has just issued passports to these poor girl with false age. It's really a shame. The Chinese girls have worked so hard but their achievements will be ever haunted by the age cheating.

[IllinoisDave]

I want to understand why everyone are so sure that the girls are underage. I didn't do any research myself, but is there any evidence, or just they look young?

 

As the way Chinese girls raised, they usually look a couple years younger (than same age American girls) when they are in their teens. I am not saying that I know the girls' actual ages if they lied.

 

 

"But online records listing Chinese gymnasts and their ages that were posted on official Web sites in China, along with ages given in the official Chinese news media, seem to contradict the passport information, indicating that He and Jiang may be as young as 14."

 

 

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/27/sports/OLY.php

Here's some visual evidence of some of the docs.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-flumen...m_b_118842.html

[Randy W]

What they did is obvious - they looked at the passports and saw the birthdates that were printed. There is plenty of evidence, both here and other places, that they competed at the ages of 12 and 13 less than 2 years ago.

 

If the IOC doesn't want to look, they won't.

 

What may be obvious to you Randy, doesn't even make it to the radar screen for many others. It appears that Western television has nothing better to do than complain about something that is a complete non-issue. So, would it make the supporters feel better if the Chinese Gymnastics team were stripped of its gold medals and had them given to the US in a humbling ceremony? It's such an arrogant display of poor sportsmanship. US media should be ashamed and so should those who buy into the sour-grapes.

 

The young Chinese woman that took the bronze in the all-around competition was so humble and gracious after she completed her competition. Rather than whining about what should have happened she said that she was proud to receive the bronze because the US women were much better than her. I doubt those words got any air-time on NBC or any other US network.

 

 

No? Try Google's radar screen. The IOC is ONLY claiming to have looked at the passports.

 

Your medal redistribution scenario is very unlikely.

[IllinoisDave]

Not the first time it's happened.

 

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-flumen...m_b_118842.html

 

 

At the 2000 Sydney Olympics, three years after the minimum age was raised to 16 in gymnastics, Chinese gymnast Yang Yun competed and won a bronze medal in the uneven bars (coincidentally this event is also He's specialty). Yang's passport said she was born on December 24, 1984 and turning 16 in the year of the Games, making her eligible. She later confessed in a television interview that she was only 14 at the time of the competition and that she and her coaches had lied about her age.

[Guest ShaQuaNew]

Sorry guys, but she gets to keep it....

 

 

http://www.picattic.com/files2/bxkv5vhznsm9hsj91cmz_thumb.jpg

[Randy W]

Sorry guys, but she gets to keep it....

 

 

http://www.picattic.com/files2/bxkv5vhznsm9hsj91cmz_thumb.jpg

 

 

Okay, Jesse.

[Guest Mike and Lily]

I'm in China now. I can get the text of the article but the images of the "exhibits" are not coming through. I wonder if they are being censored here.

[Guest Mike and Lily]

I'm in China now. I can get the text of the article but the images of the "exhibits" are not coming through. I wonder if they are being censored here.

 

The entire site is blocked now. I got the entire article using a proxy server though.