Posted on 08/12/2008 10:27:16 PM PDT by I still care
The simmering issue over possibly under-age Chinese gymnasts did not boil over before the women’s (wink, wink) team final was settled Wednesday with the host country taking the gold from the United States rather convincingly. But why do I get the feeling that if these Olympics were happening in Chicago or Los Angeles, the story would by now be a serious cable television cause célèbre?
Larry King would be interviewing the stricken parents of victimized Americans. Hannity would be chiding Colmes about Communist child abusers. Lou Dobbs would be demanding the borders be closed to all Chinese gymnasts under 80 pounds.
Here, claims by the coaching legend Bela Karolyi that what China has done is “a slap in the face of the whole world” have barely resonated outside the gymnastic venue and across the greater Olympic community. Even his wife, Martha, the American team coordinator, did not make a big deal of it.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
He said that young ones are less likely to feel the pressure, and that they had an advantage for that reason over the American gymnasts, who seemed to choke under the pressure. He seemed to be cut off, like nobody wanted to hear it.
I took a look at the girls, and there is no way I think they are 16. A couple of them definately look like they haven't even touched puberty yet.
This picture doesn't show their bodies, but you can see their faces - they look very childish.
They are mostly just pubescent or pre-pubescent. China was probably pumping them full of testosterone and working them like mules just like East Germany used to do. A couple of them had to be 12~13 at most.
"The girls are so little, so young,” Retton said. Speaking of He, Retton rolled her eyes and laughed, saying, “They said she was 16, but I don’t know.”
"An advantage for younger gymnasts is that they are lighter and, often, more fearless when they perform difficult maneuvers, said Nellie Kim, a five-time Olympic gold medalist for the former Soviet Union who is now the president of the women’s technical committee for the Swiss-based International Gymnastics Federation."
“It’s easier to do tricks,” Kim said. “And psychologically, I think they worry less.”
In it Karolyi also says when you get close to them, you can see they still have their baby teeth.
My wife and I both agreed that the Chinese team could not all be 16 years old or older. Many of her friends are Chinese and she has known them since they were young, and thus has an idea of what a young Chinese woman looks like.
I watched them carefully as they walked around the medal podium (greeting the other two teams). They seemed to be like young children. Well controlled, yes, but they had that self-absorption and way of walking a bunch of 5th graders has.
Since when is 16 the minimum age? I seem to remember younger Olympic gymnasts in the past... Or, is my memory failing me?
Check out their birth certificates at the Daily Kos site.
They changed the minimum age quite a few years ago.
That’s what I told my husband you could tell by their teeth.
“I seem to remember younger Olympic gymnasts in the past... Or, is my memory failing me?”
I don’t remember the exact year they put this rule in place, but it hasn’t always been this way.
Nadia Comaneci was 14 years old and coached by Bela Karoyli when she won in ‘76.
Bela remembers well how the little ones don’t tend to overthink the situation.
These girls beat the USA handily, whether they were underage or not.
Bela is just making the point that the playing field should be level.
If China is going to put up their best performers regardless of age - then certainly the USA also had little ones that may have performed better.
Rules are there for a reason. The China win is not legitimate because they violated the rules.
After watching both nights; and watching our normally well-controlled, normal-sized gymnasts careening wilding out of bounds (even Johnson, who NEVER does that)...I completely agree.
I'm sure it has to be so; these Chinese are so young and tiny, that they need the extra "spring" to even do the routine.
Go back and watch it; their only obviously "of age" competitor (who was of normal size) nearly went out on the only tumbling pass that even approached the boundary. The rest of her passes were designed to stop at least 10 feet short of it.
Imagine how frustrating it must be for our competitors, watching that bunch of cheats.
Oh well, everyone is simply getting an a nice view of our new "global" existence...the cheaters and liars always win. Hard work, skill, and honesty are increasingly unrewarded in all pursuits these days.
I really don’t see where testosterone would help a gymnast.
Gymnasts need to be light as well as strong.
And those little chinese girls were not bulky at all.
They simply were much younger than their alleged “16”.
I swear a couple of them didn’t look much older than my 8 yr. old.
I thought the first chinese floor routine was pitiful as far as choreography and presentation.
She was immature and she WALKED around the floor.
Judges are supposed to take .10 for those unchoreographed steps.
I’ve seen level 7 gymnasts perform better dance than that.
A good radiologist can look at an xray of the hand for bone age and the growth plates etc.. I am thinking you can tell a twelve yr old from a 16 yr old based on the film
Thanks! Glad to hear my memory is still working. I agree it’s important that everyone abide by the rules.
I have a funny feeling China isn’t handing over any x-rays.
You can always cut them in half and count the rings.
Even though it wouldn’t have mattered, the two last American girls-Nastia and Shawn- were underscored on the beam. The Chinese had a couple of wobbles and yet received around the same scores.
yeah - I think it’s especially true for Shawn.
No one there tumbles like Shawn on the beam.
She looks like she’s on the floor. More confident - more powerful - no balance checks. More difficult dismount.
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