Underage Chinese Gymnasts Probe Expands

Along with 2008 Olympics, Officials Now Looking At China's 2000 Team

(AP)  The investigation into the ages of China's gold-medal women's gymnastics team has been expanded to include members of the 2000 team that won a bronze in Sydney, the Associated Press has learned.

International gymnastics officials are examining whether Yang Yun and Dong Fangxiao, in particular, were old enough to compete at the Sydney Olympics. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year.

"If we had a look at all the articles that came before, during and after the games, there were always rumors about the ages of China's athletes in Sydney," Andre Gueisbuhler, secretary general of the International Gymnastics Federation, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.

"We did not have another choice," he said. "If we want to remain credible, then we have to look into things."

Yang's birthdate is listed as Dec. 2, 1984, which would have made her eligible for Sydney because she would turn 16 during 2000. But Yang, who also won a bronze medal on uneven bars, said in a June 2007 interview that aired on state broadcaster China Central Television that she was 14 at the Olympics.

Dong's birthdate is listed as Jan. 20, 1983, making her 17 at the time of the Sydney Games. Her blog, however, includes a reference to being born in 1985.

No other Chinese teams are being looked at, Gueisbuhler said.

A month after the Beijing Games ended, the investigation into the eligibility of the Chinese gymnasts continues, and Gueisbuhler said there is no timetable for when a report will be handed over to the International Olympic Committee.

"It's a work in progress," said Emmanuelle Moreau, an IOC spokeswoman. "Until the work has been completed, there is nothing we can say."

Questions about the ages of the Chinese gymnasts at the 2008 Summer Olympics had swirled for months before the games, with media reports and online records suggesting several of the gymnasts on the six-woman squad might be as young as 14. But Chinese officials insisted - repeatedly and heatedly - that all gymnasts were old enough, and they had not cheated their way to their first Olympic team gold.

The FIG and IOC thought the matter was settled before the games began, when the IOC said it had checked the girls' passports and deemed them valid. But the controversy persisted, and the FIG, at the IOC's urging, asked China three days before the games ended to provide more information on the ages of five of the six team members: He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan.

China turned over birth certificates, passports, ID cards and family residence permits, and the IOC initially indicated that all appeared to be in order.

If evidence of cheating is found, it could affect as many as four of the six medals the Chinese women won in Beijing. In addition to the team gold, He won gold on uneven bars and Yang got bronze medals on bars and in the all-around.

Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics since the 1980s, after the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to protect young athletes from serious injuries. The minimum age was raised to its current 16 in 1997.

Younger gymnasts are considered to have an advantage because they are more flexible and are likely to have an easier time doing the tough skills the sport requires. They also aren't as likely to have a history of injuries or fear of failure.

[lixiangmei45]

a few papers said there is a problem.and then all of the famous are saying a process is going on and then nothing happens excepte more hate for the chinese .do you really think the officials are stupid .don''t try to be silly Cinderella. this world is complex.amerian

[JamesB621]

From what I understand, there are many newspaper articles and sports journals and magazines that have at least 2 of the gymnasts ages at 14 and 15, that''s what started the the entire controversy in the first place. Only the age certifying documents for the Olympics had them aged 16. But c''mon a birthday on Jan. 1st, you''d think that they''d have been a little more creative when falsifying documents.

[dewbug2]

gotta agree with the wisdom of noaanhc.....thes are nothing but amoral lowlife scum who will and DO resort to any rotten tactic to forward the communist cause.They will take a poor little kid like that and ruin her life physically and mentally just to accomplish their goal of world domination.What would have happened to the little girl had she not performed so admirably???? she''d probably wind up making your 300 dollar Nike''s for 60 cents a day.

[yongamerica]

The Chinese documents that confirm these girls were the proper age are as credible as the milk they drink.

[downsteamjim]

To theVicar: What''s worse is that the probe is expanding.

[perrycbs1]

This should be very simple. There should be many newspaper articles that indicate age. Birth announcements, etc. In addition - anyone who is good at sports gets written up as participating in local competitions in both newspapers and newsletters, many of which have age ranges.

If such records do not exist.... I''d be very very suspicious.

[seafang]

The interesting thing about this years Chinascam, is that they weren''t even smart enough to cheat cleverly.

The rules state that the gymnast must turn 16 before or during the Olympic calendar year.
So legally,a lady gymnast could be 15 during the games (In july) and turn 16 as late as dec 31 2008.

But He Kexin''s claimed birthdate was Jan 1 1992; which is the very YOUNGEST an athletre can legally be for the ladies gymnastics. So if they had said her birthday was Dec 25th 1992, she could be a year older than they claim she was. Proving you are not 14 is a lot harder than proving you are not 15.

They would have to be total idiots to choose her birthdate so that she was the absolute youngest that she could legally be, when under the rules, they could have made her nearly a year older.

[noaanhc]

Just goes to show you that communists nations continue to resort to any means necessary to win in the Olympics so they can tout the superiority of the socialist system or the democratic system.

Down with communist China.freedom for the enslaved Chinese people.

[lreeves5]

I disagree about doing bone age scans. My son has had 2 scans. At 9 years 6 months old his scan showed him to be 8 years 0 months. Obviously he is small for his age. I don''t think you can rely on those types of tests; although there is an average, every person is different.

[griking]

Of course it''s wise to be probing them. If they''re strong enough to be Olympic athletes then they''re strong enough to handle an investigation. They can''t have it both ways, either they''re mature enough to deal with adult things or they aren''t.

[pat1967-2009]

Koko98,

I disagree. Bone scans will give the nominal age of a nominal individual. As with all measurements relating to human physiology, there is a range about the mean that is perfectly normal. In this case the range could be a year or more each way thus invalidating the use of bone scans to determine the exact age of an individual.

[thevicar1]

If they truly are under age, do you think its wise to be probing them?