That's also what I'm wondering too. Usually these gymnasts should have been in world championships or something at least.
That's also what I'm wondering too. Usually these gymnasts should have been in world championships or something at least.
Here you go: Yes they have.
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/EN...2/235312.shtml
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/EN...2/235312.shtml
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/EN...3/235313.shtml
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/EN...4/235314.shtml
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/EN...6/235316.shtml
http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/EN...8/235318.shtml
it's recent though...
but if there was any forging...it would've been done before then.
"Are you man enough to eat tofu?"
Order of Knights of the Holy Tofu
STOP using DHMO! It kills innocent lives!
Woa they are really small-sized! I would look like a giant if I'm standing beside them!
Eventhough i'm 21 but all my foreigner friends thought i am 15-16 yrs old. When I was 16, people thought i was 12. It's normal for Asians to look much younger and to have significantly smaller bone structure. These girls look their age.
In China, when choosing which girl to train, they would have made sure that the girls have the suitable body structure - small and light. all these can be determined even from young. that is why the girls are all so small size now. it is the same for the other sports. you think they're gonna pick a scrawny kid to train for weightlifting?
Last edited by f.alchemist_freak; 08-11-08 at 06:15 AM.
Solitary trees, if they grow at all, grow strong.
i wouldn't be surprised either way - whether they're 10 or really 16. it's an asian thing to look young, but it's also an asian thing to have false birth dates (intentional or not).
i'm not against younger children competing if they're capable of competing. i think the age limit was there to stop them from being pushed too hard. it would only be unfair to other countries if these girls lied about their age to get in, while other countries had to leave their 14 yrs old home. but quite frankly, w/o china's military training, other countries wouldn't have any remarkable 14 yrs old of the same caliber to bring along anyway.
i just don't like the scoring system which leaves a lot of room for bias. i'd be more concerned about getting a significantly lower score than what i deserve than the possible 10 yrs old competing against me.
How so? I've never heard of such a thing before...but it's also an asian thing to have false birth dates (intentional or not).
I really don't think China would risk it. It's not worth it. There's > 1 billion of people in China. They couldn't find some OF age gymnasts who could be trained properly?
Re: False birth dates, yeah, that happens a lot unfortunately.
Sixteen in China is different from sixteen in the western world.
it's more common in the rural area for babies to be born and not properly registered. it can be months or years later for the parents to go and get a birth certificate, and the exact dates aren't exact anymore. i would know, since both my parents don't have their real birth dates on their birth certificates.
*edit* just remember of the Junsu case of the Korean boyband where his parents registered him as a 1987 baby instead of the 1986 baby that he is...
in other cases, guys get their birth dates changed so that they'll be underage and therefore don't have to be drafted for the military yet... this applies more to wartime.
so there, now you've heard of such a thing.
again, i wouldn't be surprised either way. they can just look young, or they can falsify their papers. either case is possible and since i'm not them, i wouldn't know or pretend like i know.
Last edited by hinako442003; 08-11-08 at 03:17 PM.
Actually, during the routines, they said the smaller frame was a drawback because they were so far apart in the uneven bars which caused china doll to fall.
Also, younger means less experienced and less experience means more likely to succomb to the pressure. It's really your take on it. I say let's get rid of the age restriction! If you are good, go ahead and take the spot!
Yeah, some of the girls in this year's competition do look young, but I'm surprise the commentators haven't figured this out when they live in U.S., a country populated by so many young looking Chinese women!
Is anyone else getting really annoyed by all the talk of China cheating? They need to just give it up and admit it... The Chinese gymnasts are awesome and they are all just bitter.
Actually, I think the less experienced you are, the better it might be. Usually there's more pressure if you're already experienced.
But either way for the Chinese girls, there's already so much pressure, especially now that the men have won gold.
It's not about hating or being jealous of China. Why does everyone keep thinking like that? It's about being fair to the other countries who don't send their underaged girls to the games. It's about being fair to ALL competing athletes. Rules are rules.
But since there's really no way to prove that these girls are really underaged, let's just accept that and move on with the games.
Well I think people mean in terms of why pick on China to suspect they're forging something? So yea, our track record on forgery and corruption hasn't been the cleanest. But still, I'm sure there's a bit of jealousy and bitterness in the accusations, even if some of it may just be suspicions for foul play on the age limit.
Honestly, I REALLY hope China didn't screw this up and really do this. It's gonna be SO freaking unfair to the girls if people find out they're underaged and their medals get stripped, etc. God, what a nightmare. I'm gonna put my faith on the fact that they didn't and I hope they don't disappoint me.
I also hope they didn't either. It would be not only a blow to the poor girls, but also to China. The host country...cheating? They're never going to be able to wash that down. So let's just pray that this whole thing goes through smoothly.
Sore sore loser coach. Can he just shut up about those accusations that have no validity besides, "i'm not convinced." Geez - his team couldn't withstand the pressure, so accept the failure and let it go!
I'm so frustrated with him. Absolutely zero ounce of congrats. This is what Karma is all about!
center of gravity, that's all, in gymnastic the smaller you are the better (for girl events). The chinese train their gymnist earlier than american (3 compare to ~6), so if the american are 16 the chinese are ~13 with the same amount of experience.
It's dangerous for kids who's bone is not set to be doing that stuff, obviously winning a gold is worth deforming a bunch of kids.
and forget about "I'm not convinced", it's true, some of those girls were at competition where age wasn't limit and used their real age, compare to the ones listed at the olympic some of those girls jump up 2 years in 1 year lol.
AND last olympic one of the chinese girls did an interview and slip out that she's underage when asked haha, they asked her how old and I think she said 14.
Ofcourse back then it didn't matter because china wasn't as strong, now it's a problem because china got the gold.
Last edited by warlock110; 08-13-08 at 12:35 AM.