[notching]

The International Gymnastics Federation Ruled that China Cheated During 2000 Sydney Games

The International Gymnastics Federation ruled that former Chinese gymnast Dong Fangxiao was underage at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.

Suspicions of age faking have dogged Chinese sport for a number of years.

The gymnastics federation (FIG) ruled in the case of two Chinese gymnasts suspected of having falsified their dates of birth at the 2000 Games, finding that only one would have been underage.

FIG's report said that Dong would have been 14 and unable to participate, while the other gymnast, Yang Yun, would have been 16 and thus able to participate. An athlete must be a minimum of 16 years old in the year of the Olympic Games in order to compete.

The report said all of the results obtained by Dong at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games have been canceled, and FIG has recommended to the International Olympic Committee that the bronze medal won by China in the team competition be withdrawn.

According to FIG, Dong was registered with a birth date of January 20, 1983, making her 17 years old during the Sydney Olympics. However, the gymnastics body found that at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, she officially declared her birth date as January 23, 1986, on her work accreditation for the Games.

In addition to canceling her results from Sydney, FIG canceled all of Dong's results at the 1999 World Championships, at World Cup events in 1999-2000 and at the 2000 World Cup final. The Chinese Gymnastics Association must pay the costs of the disciplinary procedure, according to FIG's release.

In the case of Yang, who won a team bronze and a bronze medal on the uneven bars at the Sydney Games, FIG found there was insufficient evidence to prove her birth date had been falsified.

Yang had registered her birth date as December 2, 1984, making her 16 for the Sydney Games. But during the Beijing Games in 2008, it was discovered that she said in a television interview that she was only 14 while competing in Sydney.

However, FIG found insufficient concrete evidence and gave Yang a warning. The Chinese Gymnastics Association must also pay the costs of that investigation.

http://img196.imageshack.us/img196/6594/100227071529resizedyang.jpg
Dong Fangxiao, right, pictured with teammate Yang Yun, was only 14 at the 2000 Olympic Games.

[1exotic]

owned.

[MWR34]

year 2000 called, they want their Metal back.

[BaoXu]

*insert pedobear picture here*

RS is so predictable

[StylinRed]

what a shocker the 4ft tall girl with no body, and a high pitched voice, that cries for mommy, while clutching her stuffed toy and looks like shes 10 turned out to be underage

[InvisibleSoul]

So I guess it won't be until 2018 that we will see their medals stripped for the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

[TRD Rs200]

So I guess it won't be until 2018 that we will see their medals stripped for the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

:haha::haha::haha::haha:

[Vansterdam]

PWNED

[twitchyzero]

now China's going to join South Korea in boycotting Australian goods.

kind of like how yellowpower bitches at the police for doing their jobs.

[Audi-Quattro]

So I guess it won't be until 2018 that we will see their medals stripped for the 2008 Beijing Olympics?

Doesn't change the fact that US would still have less gold medals than China

[Graeme S]

Doesn't change the fact that US would still have less gold medals than China
Fewer golds. Fewer.

[SlySi]

Cheaters never win..

[fliptuner]

Which bodes the question: what happens to the (then) 4th place team?

They should get bronze and China should pay another fine for taking their moment away.

[Manic!]

Which bodes the question: what happens to the (then) 4th place team?

They should get bronze and China should pay another fine for taking their moment away.

Evey team moves up in the standings. Silver gets gold bronze get silver and 4th gets bronze.

[wasabisashimi]

If you are world's best at age 14, why cant you compete with older people? IT is a stupid olympic rule anyways.

[Graeme S]

If you are world's best at age 14, why cant you compete with older people? IT is a stupid olympic rule anyways.
Because it's the opposite problem.

Children (yes, they're still children) who are that age are not completely developed physically, and as a result are more flexible and limber, and are able to do things that their older competitors are not. It is not physically possible for someoen who is 20 to do the same things that someone who is 14 can.

Add to that...really, should we allow someone who's 14 to compete on a world stage? That essentially says "You have to start at age 6 to compete", goodbye hopes and dreams of 10-12 year olds.

[!LittleDragon]

Beat by a kid... lol

[Manic!]

If you are world's best at age 14, why cant you compete with older people? IT is a stupid olympic rule anyways.

Because little kids should not be training 8 hours a day just like they should not be working.

[twitchyzero]

when i read the title again i thought it said sidney crosby got stripped of his medal haha.

[shenmecar]

china, what will they think of next?

[BaoXu]

^ cloning olympic gymnasts

[skyxx]

^ Why would they do that when they have enough people?

[wasabisashimi]

Because little kids should not be training 8 hours a day just like they should not be working.

We have alot of child stars in hollywood or other jobs where kids work at early age? What if it was your kid and he can beat everyone in a basketball game.

Wouldn't you want him to train and become pro?

Anyways, I agree with the person who said " lol beat by a kid"

[babykiller]

It just shows that if you are looking for underage Dong the best place to go is Asia.

[fetched]

Because it's the opposite problem.

Children (yes, they're still children) who are that age are not completely developed physically, and as a result are more flexible and limber, and are able to do things that their older competitors are not. It is not physically possible for someoen who is 20 to do the same things that someone who is 14 can.

Add to that...really, should we allow someone who's 14 to compete on a world stage? That essentially says "You have to start at age 6 to compete", goodbye hopes and dreams of 10-12 year olds.

So in your words, it's not fair to the 30+ year olds to compete in gymnastics because of their age since it is impossible for someone who is 30 to do the same things that someone who is 20 can?

Ultimately people want to see the best in any sport, a 14 year old beating a 17 year old isn't that bad since girls have early puberty anyways.

I'm pretty sure the Chinese isn't gonna give up any medals, probably make a fake one to give it to the IOU.:haha:

[Graeme S]

So in your words, it's not fair to the 30+ year olds to compete in gymnastics because of their age since it is impossible for someone who is 30 to do the same things that someone who is 20 can?

Ultimately people want to see the best in any sport, a 14 year old beating a 17 year old isn't that bad since girls have early puberty anyways.

I'm pretty sure the Chinese isn't gonna give up any medals, probably make a fake one to give it to the IOU.:haha:
Actually, in my words it's not fair for people who are 14 to compete with those who are 20.


While people who are 30 years old can't do the same things that a 20 year old can, that's because those people are past their prime, as opposed to in it. It's extremely rare to find an olympic gymnast above the age of 25 simply because those who are smaller, leaner, and more agile are better at the sport.

The Youth Olympic Games are starting this year in Singapore (Summer YOG 2010), and one of the reasons is most likely to prevent this kind of BS; give underage people a place to compete, and it'll keep them out of competition.


The question isn't if they can win or not. There is an age limit for ALL atheletes, not just the gymnasts. The question is why should gymnasts be given a double standard on ages.

[goo3]

Ultimately people want to see the best in any sport, a 14 year old beating a 17 year old isn't that bad since girls have early puberty anyways.

I'm pretty sure the Chinese isn't gonna give up any medals, probably make a fake one to give it to the IOU.:haha:

Still doesn't change the fact they cheated and got caught. You seem to entirely miss the point: nobody wants to compete with cheaters. If the min age limit is 14, it should be 14 for all, not just one country.

IOC can easily say to China, give back the medal if you want to compete in 2012.

[Ronin]

...is this recent? It took them ten years to figure out something that most people were like "LOL SHE ISN'T 17!"

Could you imagine being the 4th place team? Getting a call saying "Hey, you know those Olympics you went to TEN FUCKING YEAR AGO? Yeah, you won bronze. We fucked up. Our bad. It's in the mail. Bye!"