Chinese Gymanstics ... they're babies! (Europe, Giants, Reading, athlete)

[_redbird_]

Personally, I feel if a 14 year old girl can kick the world's buttocks in gymnastics (or whatever sport), she DESERVES the gold medal.

Who cares if she is 14, 15, or 34. She worked hard to get to that level and she deserves to be rewarded.

Now hopefully all the whiney butts can find something else to whine about. Sheesh! Is the stadium to fancy? The lo mein overcooked? Are the chinese scaring you with their sports programs?

[goodbyehollywood]

If there were old news stories floating around listing Shawn Johnson's age as 12 or 13 and suddenly she age-advances to 16 in an Olympic year, then her age should be investigated. If anybody suspected that Bridget Sloan was not turning 16 this year, she should be investigated. And if they don't meet the rules, then they should be disqualified and their medals taken away and awarded to those who were age-eligible to compete.

Rules apply to everybody. There should be no home court advantage in the Olympics. If any team doesn't want to be bound by the same regulations that everybody else agrees to, then they can simply not compete. These athletes train too hard for too long for the playing field not to be level. Just ask Nastia Liukin. She missed the Olympic age cutoff by two months in 2004 and she could have made all the difference for the U.S. team.

A thorough probe is the right thing to do. If they have nothing to hide, why don't the Chinese provide birth certificates, school records, dental records or whatever else an impartial committee deems conclusive? They could end the controversy today. Does anybody think for a second that Teri Johnson wouldn't have any information requested FedExed to Beijing tonight to prove Shawn's age?

The Chinese gymnastics are incredibly talented and deserve their medals, if they meet the age requirements. If not, then it doesn't matter how impressive their performance; it had no place in the Olympic games under the present set of rules. Change the rules or play by them. How is that not fair?

[_redbird_]

Moderator cut: orphaned reference to deleted post

Reps to you!

Actually, I agree with you 100%, but I also wanted to state if any 14 year old can compete on the world stage deserves respect.

[phoenix_talons]

As long as she competes as a 14-year-old and not pretend to be 16, and other countries are allowed to field 14-year-olds to compete against the host's 14-year-olds.

[tiffela74]

well said GBHollywood....
and I agree totally Phoenix_talons.

redbird,I agree fully that the gymnast in question is HIGHLY talented, and did an awesome job. Nobody is disputing that Im sure. But the question and problem here is the discrepencies (spl?) on her age.
Theres many other girls her age that compete on a world stage. International competition is full extremely talented Jrs. We've even got some great up and coming ones.
Its just everyone should abide by the rules. Thats all.

[domergurl]

Bela Karolyi thinks, and I agree with him, that they should just chuck the rule. If a parent and a coach think that a 12 year old child should be thrust into the world stage, well have at it I say.

[phoenix_talons]

That's right. Let the "half-peoples" compete. Even if it cripples them for the rest of their lives.

[Drover]

Well I agree with the aim behind the rule. But it appears to be so ineffectual, even without cheating, as to be pointless. To be world-class competitive at 16, you still have to start at a very young age.

[McGowdog]

I made two points in this post that brought out two questions that have resurfaced; namely "Who cares if they are younger than 16?" and "Whom does it harm?"

Originally Posted by McGowdog

They ARE 16. They being our gymnasts. They are 15 going on 16, 16, and up. And they look like they are. They are growing into little women and you can tell. They don't look like muscular little boys, which is what little 11 year olds look like, They don't have little baby teeth or the ears of an 11 year old.

The reasons for setting the age limit have partially been mentioned, but I didn't see this one; the little 11 year olds don't have that fear that the older kids have. Thus, they are probably mentally more willing to abuse their bodies than a 15+ year old kid.

Now, there's no doubt about China's hard training and drive to win gold. The guys are obviously of age and worked very hard to achieve their golds.

I'm sure that they did things fair and square, unlike Marion Jones. No designer roids whatsoever. How do we know for sure that Marion Jones was the only one who cheated? How do we know they all don't cheat? It's the winners who cheat that get the scrutiny.

But who does all this harm? The countries competing against these 11 year olds? No. It's the 11 year olds themselves. Let's give them the benefit of the doubt and say they're 14. They're 4'6" to 4' 8" and 68 lbs, and according to Béla Károlyi they're half people.

It's cheating. Period. Marion did what she did and it's in the past and she paid the consequences. Does that mean the US of A should endure being cheated on from here on out? If China will cheat on us and the world so arrogantly in something as trivial as this, what else will they cheat on?

My spiritual advisor has a saying that's relevant here: "It's not your arrogance that's gonna kill you. It's your pride of it."

Here's a question; what age would our athletes have to be to be of similiar size as those they're facing? What if they categorized them that way? Wrestlers are categorized this way. If you want to be really small and whatever age, you'd benefit perhaps. But not in gymnastics because as the expert Béla Károlyi would point out, no fear and a number of other advantages when the athlete is younger. Perhaps our athletes would have to be 11 and younger to be of similiar size of some of their opponents, but this would be straight-up child abuse in my mind; hopefully in the minds of our athletes' parents as well

[LexusNexus]

I applaud the Chinese. They have been gracious hosts for the Games this year. Their young stars are the wave of the future. It is increasingly the reality that top athletes are younger than ever before. If a 14 year old gymnast can become an Olympic champion, I say good for her.

The age restriction should be modified because obviously times have changed. Kudos to the Chinese. They have been a great success at this year's Olympics, earning more gold medals than anyone and being second only to the US in total medal count.