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| -Short Attention Span Theater- |
| Chinese Parents Swear Atheletes are Old Enough |
| 2008-08-22 |
| With the parents growing indignant and the Beijing Games winding down, the International Olympic Committee wants to "put to rest" persistent questions about the age of China's gold medal women's gymnastics team. Good luck. I figger they'll be 18 in 2012. The IOC said Friday there is still no proof anyone cheated, though it asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate "what have been a number of questions and apparent discrepancies," spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. However, all the information the Chinese gymnastics federation presented supports its insistence that its athletes were old enough to compete. There. What more do you want, Comrade? "We believe the matter will be put to rest and there's no question ... on the eligibility," Davies said. "The information we have received seems satisfactory in terms of the correct documentation - including birth certificates." No one would be happier to finally have closure on the controversy than the gymnasts' parents. China coach Lu Shanzan said the parents are "indignant" over persistent questions about their daughters' ages. "It's not just me. The parents of our athletes are all very indignant," Lu said. "They have faced groundless suspicion. Why aren't they believed? Why are their children suspected? Their parents are very angry." In an interview with The Associated Press, Lu said Asian gymnasts are naturally smaller than their American and European rivals. "At this competition, the Japanese gymnasts were just as small as the Chinese," he said. "Chinese competitors have for years all been small. It is not just this time. It is a question of race. Can he say that? Does the ACLU know? European and American athletes are all powerful, very robust. But Chinese athletes cannot be like that. They are by nature that small." He said the governing body of gymnastics was given additional documents Thursday night to try to dispel lingering questions. Those documents included He's current and former passport, ID card and family residence permit. Lu said the documents all say she was born in 1992, which would have made her eligible to compete. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible. "Surely it's not possible that these documents are still not sufficient proof of her birthdate?" Lu asked. "The passports were issued by the Chinese Foreign Ministry. The identity card was issued by China's Ministry of Public Security. If these valid documents are not enough to clarify this problem, then what will you believe? Who has enough power to fabricate this many false documents? Other then the government, I mean. |
| Posted by:Bobby |
| #7 ah... Chinese consider you 9 months old when born and then call it a year. Makes it rough sometimes to figure out how old somebody is the way we measure. |
| Posted by: 3dc 2008-08-22 23:21 |
| #6 A wise policy. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-22 15:00 |
| #5 Big J, I live and do business in the S F Bay Area. I use the Reagan method, "Trust, but verify". |
| Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC 2008-08-22 14:13 |
| #4 Finally, a form of cheating that relies purely on government statements... The IOC is clearly toothless and worthless. |
| Posted by: Zhang Fei 2008-08-22 13:49 |
| #3 I grew up in the S.F. Bay Area. I have been around a lot of Chinese, and it seems like they are always trying to pull some sort of bullshit. |
| Posted by: bigjim-ky 2008-08-22 11:49 |
| #2 But Chinese athletes cannot be like that. They are by Enjoy the advantage while it lasts. Or will they put their budding athletes on low protein diets, sot of like foot binding? |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2008-08-22 09:55 |
| #1 No, no, no. Dad didn't have time to hitch up the rig to ride 100 kilometers to the local Peoples Revolutionary Hall of Justice and Records and Mahjong Sports Palace to register the birth, especially of a female. So they recorded it in the family's |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2008-08-22 09:38 |