Chinese female gymnasts still watch Teletubbies

[gassy]

No way some of them are 16. No way. Two of them look 8.

[jyl]

For at least one, her official bio website gave a birthdate that meant she was 14. Until the website was changed. The IOC says that since the Chinese have produced a passport showing she is 16, all is well. Yes, seems like faking.

[Mr.Puff]

Amen brother! Those Chinese are really not helping their image.

[jyl]

Remember when everyone said the Romanians were competing w/ 14 y/o's? I think it was the Romanians, anyway.

[trekkor]

What would be the advantage of letting younger ones compete?


KT

[K. Roman]

Trekkor brings up a good argument. What's the benefit? Younger isn't better.

[dd74]

Good question. I would think the girls, when younger, are lighter, more pliable. Not as much mass.

The poor American girl Alicia Sacramone, is just blowing it. First the beam, now the floor exercise.

But she's a big girl for a gymnast.

She's also tough. She's not crying about her mistakes and deductions.

[87coupe]

No, but smaller and lighter is.

[K. Roman]

Yeah, but at that age, they aren't as mechanically skilled.

[the]

some gymnast/announcers were saying that younger in many cases is better. for a variety of reasons, such as flexibility, size, etc. they also said that these kids in china start at age 3, many are literally taken out of their houses and sent to camps where they train constantly. there are supposedly only so many "reps" a gymnast has before they start to decline, and they can be worn out by 16/17. Also, a 12 year old doesn't generally feel the fear and pressure that they start to feel by 16/17, this is apparently a huge issue.

yeah, there are of course some advantages to being older, but as a whole, at least for the chinese, it seems weighing all the pros and cons, it's better for them to be 12-16 or so. If it wasn't an overall advantage, they wouldn't cheat and do it.

Bela Karosi says it is documented that 1/2 the chinese team is underage, and everyone in the industry knows it.

[87coupe]

They are when they've been training since they were 3. Not trying to take anything away from them, they are incredibly talented. Just think that everyone should be playing by the same rules.

[dd74]

Check out the third American gymnast. She's smaller than the first two, and has less deductions. A pattern, perhaps?

Also, just like the commentators say about the Chinese gymnasts: they're put in a "program" from around age 3 to be an Olympic contender.

[island911]

Puberty, for girls/women, causes extra challenges.

[dd74]

A trainer once told me many of these girls never get a period. Hence, their growth and development is permanently stunted.

I just heard the under age vs. passport thing about the Chinese. That ***** is damn wrong! The Chinese should be disqualified, IMO.

[the]

When you watch the cheating chinese, it really is ridiculous. It is a huge advantage to have a tiny 12 year old, who has been training for NINE YEARS, going against legit 16 year old girls.

(That being said, while those 12 year olds will probably be messed up for life, and are part of a corrupt, cheating system, they are incredible at what they do).

[Mr.Puff]

Maybe they should add another box inside of the big one to force the gymnast to use the entire mat. If you are noticing what I am... cheating Chinese. I hope this doesn't make me racist. My college is 60% asian, and I have witnessed a group of 12 Chinese that would copy each others homework every day in statistics for economics. They did it again in intermediate microeconomics, and again in tax accounting .

[87coupe]

Speaking of mat size, if your smaller you need less room to complete a tumbling pass.

[Mr.Puff]

Oh Good You Finished 6 Feet From The Corner... Great Tumble.


"They earned it." I hate this announcer. The one for swimming is even worse. Three races the same day and he said almost the same thing for each. "So and so did such and such wrong, and world record/GOLD for such and such." Oh, ok. He/she did something wrong... OH WAIT... she/he still got the WORLD RECORD and the GOLD, so bite your tongue.

[dd74]

Originally Posted by Mr.Puff

Maybe they should add another box inside of the big one to force the gymnast to use the entire mat. If you are noticing what I am... cheating Chinese. I hope this doesn't make me racist. My college is 60% asian, and I have witnessed a group of 12 Chinese that would copy each others homework every day in statistics for economics.

Cheaters are everywhere in the Olympics. The fact is China came in with a definite agenda to win as many gold medals as possible, and more importantly, beat the Americans. Fine. But do it legitimately. If the girls are 14 and the IOC minimum is 15, c'mon. Let's stick to the rules.

[island911]

The Chinese certainly are hitting home their theme of faking whatever is needed to project the image of power.

..and on a lesser topic; are those falsies sewn into those kids uniforms?