Athletes Only as Old as China Says They Are

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.

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

Another wrinkle is what "16" means. Many Chinese and Koreans consider a child to be the age of "1" at its birth, and add one year to their age at every New Year. Therefore, a child can be born one month before New Year's Day, and be called "2", even though they have only been ex-utero for 30 days.

Then there's the Chinese calendar vs Lunar Calendar thing. A few Chinese friends actually claim two birthdates, and often ask which is the correct one to use when filling out school paperwork, etc.

The same official who intriduced that girl as "13" last year can still honestly call her "16" today, depending on which calculation system they choose to use. I'm sure the Olympic regulation is explicit enough... but when we're talking about a PR battle (which this is, since the IOC won't dare take any medals away from the Chinese this quadrennial), the Chinese can claim soncerity, while still being utterly Clintonian in their deception.

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