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Athletes Only as Old as China Says They Are
NY Times ^ | August 12, 2008 | By HARVEY ARATON

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 ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: 2008olympics; china; gymnasts; olympics; underage
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To: Pylon

awww...isn’t she sweet?
You’ll need to find an extra springy board to help her with her beam mounts.


21 posted on 08/12/2008 11:39:12 PM PDT by Scotswife
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To: I still care

Hmmm... notice the padded sports bras?


22 posted on 08/13/2008 12:15:02 AM PDT by pyrless (I carry a gun, 'cause a cop is too heavy)
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To: Scotswife
"You’ll need to find an extra springy board to help her with her beam mounts."

Trust me, for 16 months she can really fly. She should only be 14 months but at 29 weeks she decided she needed out and she almost didn't make it. Now she makes up for it by being a little bundle of dynamite.

23 posted on 08/13/2008 12:20:02 AM PDT by Pylon (Remember boys, flies spread disease, so keep yours closed.)
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To: I still care

Check these out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deng_Linlin
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/He_Kexin

In November 2007, one of the gymnasts was introduced as being 13 years old, now she is suddenly 16.


24 posted on 08/13/2008 12:26:39 AM PDT by ConservativeTeen
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To: ConservativeTeen

Addendum:

Forgot to include this.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Yuyuan


25 posted on 08/13/2008 12:36:06 AM PDT by ConservativeTeen
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To: I still care

The International Gymnastics Federation is an absolute joke by letting this farce go down simply because it was Chinas home games. The ages of their females were so blanantly under the legal limit, they’ve made a mockery of the olympics.
And here is the kicker. By bringing out the 14 and younger ones to compete, this means that it greatly increases the odds the girls will be able to compete in peak form for 1 - 2 more olympics. Its a massive advantage to the program longterm as the fake passports keep coming.


26 posted on 08/13/2008 12:36:18 AM PDT by Proud_USA_Republican (We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good. - Hillary Clinton)
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To: Proud_USA_Republican

Who are you going to believe, the Chinese government or your lying eyes?


27 posted on 08/13/2008 12:37:44 AM PDT by ConservativeTeen
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To: Scotswife

The age used to be 14 but it seems a lot of the girls were ending up abused - there was a lot of talk about how their joints were not ready for that kind on impact and also they were on special diets.

I was looking at the chinese girls again. I think they look a touch undernourished. One of them - her head looks actually skeletal. But their muscles look very hard, in fact harder than the other teams. I don’t know if that is training, diet, their age, or God forbid (and I suspect) drugs.

If the Chinese were normal competitors I might give them the benefit of the doubt. But the Chinese definitely have a tendency to not respect the individual and “use” people.

I’ll tell you something else I heard tonight. One of the commentators said something about the girls being taken from their parents when they were 3, and not allowed to see them except perhaps once a year. One girl wanted to stay a while with her family and she was told, basically, tough - if you leave you leave the program. She stayed.

So we have underage girls, removed from their families by the state, looking to me like they are half starved and confined to a hard program without the guidance of parents.

And the commentators wax eloquent at how talented they are. Frankly, now when I look at them I want to cry. I think they are abused. It’s sad our commentators can’t or won’t mention it.


28 posted on 08/13/2008 1:04:10 AM PDT by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
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To: I still care

China is one huge slavery plantation.

The rulers are the slave owners and they own everybody else. The life purpose of every slave is to make their masters look good. Beyond that they have no value whatsoever.

In their twisted view, these girl should be honored that they were chosen to be the instruments that will glorify their “leaders”. It’s a privilege to be deemed worthy of that task.


29 posted on 08/13/2008 1:11:31 AM PDT by Truthsearcher
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To: I still care

I couldn’t find a good facial picture of this one, but check out this video and see if you think she is 16. Remember, she may be wearing a padded bra.

http://video.aol.com/video-detail/deng-linlin-2008-world-cup-moscow-finals-vt-2/3286310696


30 posted on 08/13/2008 1:12:08 AM PDT by I still care ("Remember... for it is the doom of men that they forget" - Merlin, from Excalibur)
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To: I still care

"In it Karolyi also says when you get close to them, you can see they still have their baby teeth."

I was just going to suggest,half jokingly, that along with drug testing they take bone and teeth x rays.

31 posted on 08/13/2008 1:43:29 AM PDT by Mila
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To: I still care
I found this.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/olympics/2008-05/23/content_6707927.htm

In the second paragraph, this report clearly stated He Kexin is 14 years old.And it was written just 80 days ahead of olympics.

32 posted on 08/13/2008 1:47:05 AM PDT by hobbitslikepotatoes
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To: hobbitslikepotatoes

Excellent find, you probably should archive that page, I guarantee it will be taken off the web in the very near future.


33 posted on 08/13/2008 1:54:38 AM PDT by Truthsearcher
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To: I still care

> I couldn’t find a good facial picture of this one, but check out this video and see if you think she is 16. Remember, she may be wearing a padded bra.

Ignoring the obviously padded bra, this child looks no older than my eight year old daughter. She is certainly NOT twice my daughter’s age.

No way in Texas.


34 posted on 08/13/2008 2:52:16 AM PDT by DieHard the Hunter (Is mise an ceann-cinnidh. Cha ghéill mi do dhuine. Fàg am bealach.)
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To: garandgal
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.

Right, which is why I'll stick to pure sports...like the NFL and NE Patriots. /s

35 posted on 08/13/2008 3:08:06 AM PDT by Fundamentally Fair (If given a choice between a POW and a POS, I'll take the POW.)
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Comment #36 Removed by Moderator

To: I still care

That picture doesn’t do justice to how young they look. There is no way they are 16. The Chicoms are entering younger girls than allowed. I had read talk before the games about how these girls had conflicting documents on their age and now I think there is no way they are 16. It really is creepy to see girls who look eight in makeup and tight clothing dancing around and showing off their flexibility. Its a perverts dream.


37 posted on 08/13/2008 5:24:38 AM PDT by DemonDeac
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To: I still care
Fraud in the ChiComm Olympics? I'm shocked, shocked to find out that cheating is going on here!

It wouldn't surprise me to find out their leotards have lead paint in them.

38 posted on 08/13/2008 5:41:05 AM PDT by hunter112 (The 'straight talk express' gets the straight finger express from me.)
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To: I still care

My now 15 year old daughter quit competitive gymnastics at 13. She was competing at level 9 (out of 10 then elite). She was in 8th grade at the time.

When she was 7 she had a coach who told me they were fast-tracking her to the highest skills as quickly as possible because once some girls get to about 12-13 their fears can overcome their drive and motivation. That’s what happened to my daughter. I’m not saying she WOULD have, but she was eligible to compete in Bejiing this year. She was watching the gymnastics last night and said there was no way all the Chinese girls were turning 16 this year.


39 posted on 08/13/2008 5:56:18 AM PDT by melissa_in_ga (Duncan Hunter should have been our nominee.)
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To: liudingding

I have, and lived 4 years in Japan as well, and those girls are not 16. The 2nd girl who did the final floor may have been 16, but the 1st and 3rd girls on the floor looked 12, tops.


40 posted on 08/13/2008 6:10:32 AM PDT by struggle ((The struggle continues))
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