Questions continue on age of Chinese gymnasts
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BEIJING - After the Chinese women's gymnastics team won its first ever Olympic gold medal on Wednesday, its diminutive gymnasts celebrated on the arena floor, hopping and hugging and mugging for the cameras. The team final had come down to the United States and China and was close until the final two rotations, when the Chinese team pulled away in front of an excited and packed crowd. In those rounds, the Americans made several notable mistakes, including two falls by the team leader Alicia Sacramone that paved the way for China. One day after its men's team won gold, China scored 188.900 for the victory. The United States claimed silver by scoring 186.525, well ahead of the 181.525 recorded by Romania, which followed its gold at the 2004 Athens Games with a bronze medal here. While the Chinese team celebrated, Martha Karolyi, the U.S. national team coordinator, continued to question the ages of some of China's gymnasts. Concerns over eligibility on the six-member team surfaced before the Olympics and have continued all week. "One of the girls has a missing tooth," Karolyi said, suggesting that the gymnast was so young that she lost a baby tooth and had yet to have a permanent one emerge. The grin of Deng Linlin, a Chinese gymnast who is listed as 16, indeed revealed a wide gap. To be eligible for the Olympics, gymnasts must turn 16 this year. "I have no proof, so I can't make an affirmation," Karolyi said. "But it possibly could be true. That doesn't give an even playing field. Certain countries go by the rules, and certain countries may not." China's coach, Lu Shanzhen, bristled when the age issue arose again on the day his gymnasts had upset the Americans, the reigning world champions. He would not explain Deng's missing tooth. "It's unfair that people keep saying the Chinese are too young to compete," Lu said in Mandarin, on his way out of the National Indoor Stadium. "If they think they can tell someone's age just by looking at them, well, if you look at the foreign athletes, they have so much more muscles than the Chinese. They are so strong. Do you then say that they are doping?" Half of the team - He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan - would be under age, according to online sports registration lists in China. The international gymnastics federation, however, said those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct. Yang, who turns 16 at the end of the month, said, "It's unreasonable for people to think I'm too young." She will compete in the all-around final on Friday. Because China and the United States competed on the same events each rotation, it was easier to notice differences in their body types. The Chinese gymnasts lack curves, have an average height of 4 feet 9 inches and weigh an average of 77 pounds. Deng is the smallest, at 4-6 and 68 pounds. The women on the U.S. team, generally more muscular and shapely than the Chinese, are an average of 3 1/2 inches taller and 30 pounds heavier. Sacramone, who is 20 and the oldest of all the Chinese and American gymnasts competing, thought her competitors for China looked younger than 16. "No, they looked pretty young," said Sacramone, who is listed at 5-1 and 117 pounds. "But I'm not one to judge. I don't look 20." Nastia Liukin, who will compete in Friday's all-around final, said: "Martha makes little jokes about it. `Oh, look at the little babies!' We've always have a good laugh about that." China is not the first team to be in this position. In 1991, a North Korean gymnast, Kim Gwang Suk, showed up at the world championships with two missing front teeth, raising questions about her age. She was 4 feet 4 inches and about 62 pounds, and she claimed to be 16. At one point, the North Korean Gymnastics Federation listed her at 15 for three straight years; it was later barred from the 1993 world championships for falsifying ages. Whatever their ages, the Chinese captivated the crowd Wednesday. On the uneven bars, their breathtaking routines were given two scores above 16.8. Their only major mistake came on the next event, the balance beam. The team's star, the 20-year-old Cheng Fei, fell during a tumbling pass. Nearly everyone inside the arena gasped. When her routine was over, she rushed off the platform, startled by her error. But China's chances of winning gold were still very much alive, as the United States team faltered. First came Sacramone's beam routine. Sacramone, a sophomore at Brown University, had to wait for some time before starting. Then she fell during her mount. Afterward, she fought back tears. "I just let my nerves get the best of me," she said. "I tried to look past it and look forward, but it didn't work out. I thought my age was an advantage for me, because I have so much international experience. But it wasn't." The team moved to the final event, the floor exercise, a point behind China. The gold medal was still within reach. But Sacramone fell again, this time on her second tumbling pass. Later, she stepped out of bounds. Her score was 14.125. Shawn Johnson, the reigning world champion in the all-around, and Liukin were up next. Each stepped out of bounds. Johnson received a 15.1; Liukin scored 15.2. The Chinese saw an opportunity, then grabbed it. They looked relaxed as they completed their routines amid the rumbling arena. To end the day, Cheng performed to Asian-inspired music featuring cymbals. Her teammates jumped up and down on the sideline. China's floor routines were not perfect, but they were good enough to win. Afterward, the Americans were left to figure out what went wrong. Karolyi said there seemed to have been some gamesmanship during Sacramone's vault. She said Sacramone had been held up for an "out of the ordinary" amount of time - not by judges, but by event organizers. "It's a psychological war out there," Karolyi said. The aftermath of the competition can also be emotionally difficult, and neither team faced easy questions after the competition. According to some official records, He - China's uneven bars specialist - was listed as 14 this year. Now, however, she is listed as 16. At the post-event news conference, a reporter asked her how she had celebrated her 15th birthday. After a long pause, He answered that it had been "an ordinary day" spent with teammates. Several rooms away, Sacramone was confronting her own issues. She wondered why she had made crucial mistakes. Still shaken, she was surrounded by teammates trying to console her. Johnson took her aside and said, "Were you mad at me when I messed up at worlds last year?" Sacramone said no. Johnson said: "OK, well, we're not mad at you. We all still love you." 
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They are CHEATERS. Plain and simple.
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My ex-husband is Chinese, he said they start their life at one year old, counting time in gestation. Could that be affecting the age discrepancy?
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Cindy, you can't make open claims like that with out any supporting facts. Its just hurtful to the party involved and makes you look ignorant.
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If we think they are cheating for using athletes that are too young, that makes us look pretty pathetic. I do think that they have an advantage being so small especially in the floor exercises, and perhaps the balance beam.
I say if they are young good for them for beating older more experienced athletes.
The Olympic Committee however has rules and every country should follow them. So if they are too young then their country should be punished. China doesn't follow the rules normally any way look at how they price their own currency. We stupid Americans just let them and we are now owing them when just only a decade ago they owed us.
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Xu Hung of China is looking forward to the 2012 Olympics. At just barely 12 years of age, she is looking forward to leaving her mark on the world as one of Henan province’s premier gymnasts.
Though it is true, that she appears younger than 12, with the stroller and her ever present pacifier, Chinese representatives insist that she is legitimately 12. “Just look at these official papers,” says Yinbing Yu, Xu’s coach and spokesperson. “This is all the proof anyone needs to accept that Xu is 12.”
During our interview with Yingbing, it was apparent that, by the smell of things, Xu had defecated in her undergarments, which looked suspiciously like a diaper.
At only 7 pounds and 11 ounces, Xu is, perhaps, the tiniest gymnast in the world.
We love you Xu and look forward to seeing you on the world stage in 2012.
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Scandal in sports just don't seem to be going away. I have created a new site where you can discuss cheating in sports, give your opinion, and vote for which side of the issue you support. Check out the discussion on the Chinese Gymnastic Controversy :
http://www.cheatorbeat.com/?p=7
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Underage gymnasts? Maybe not...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RtB5VLxOBsQ
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