Is China Using Underage Gymnasts in Violation of Olympic Rules?

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International Olympic Committee rules are clear: To compete in Olympic gymnastics, athletes have to be at least 16 years old. No one born after 1992 is eligible.

But the New York Times documents strong evidence that host nation China is violating that rule. Specifically, He Kexin, a gold-medal favorite in the uneven parallel bars, appears to be 14, even though China is claiming she's 16.

The Times reports:

The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list He's birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts - now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache - shows He's age as "1994.1.1."
Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an "intercity" competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He's birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He's passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008.

The International Olympic Committee has shown no interest at all in doing anything that might anger this summer's Olympic hosts, so I'm sure the IOC will do nothing with this information. But it should. Young girls shouldn't be pushed into elite athletics, and the implementation of a minimum age rule was a wise decision. It's a rule that no country should flout.

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)

7-27-2008 @ 10:43PM

enrico said...

It also says the younger girls can have an advantage in many events because they weigh less and are "crazier" -- as in, not old enough to understand pressure yet.

7-27-2008 @ 11:06PM

George B Vieto said...

The Chinese pushing below 16 years old gymnasts makes the Oakland Raiders look like Boy Scouts by comparison.

7-28-2008 @ 2:51AM

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8-13-2008 @ 12:39AM

Shooter said...

You can clearly tell two of those Chinese girls are NOT 16 years old!

8-13-2008 @ 12:42AM

danny said...

its not fair that the americans and other teams kill themselves practicing for 4 years playing by the rules and the chinese like always find a way to cheat. This type of behaviour can also be seen in the way they do business, money or power first , then safety and rules last. Its just not fair to the other girls who are competing with little girls that are naturally more flexible and daring due to their age. Its not even fair for the chinese girls because they loose out on a normal childhood now that politicians push them ever so hard.

8-13-2008 @ 1:17AM

she11ey said...

Look, a country that rips three-year-old girls away from their families for several years to brutally train them as gymnasts -- why should we be surprised by their disregard for any other ethics?

8-13-2008 @ 6:55AM

Mark said...

I am reading these comments and hearing all of this crying about fairness and how China will cheat and do anything to win. Amazing what short memories many of you have about our own American athletes. Anybody remember an athlete named Marion Jones and how many medals she took? Anybody remember a cyclist named Lance Armstrong? Sure nobody proved he used performance enhancing drugs but his former teammates have stated that he did. How about Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Mark McGwire and their congressional hearings? There is a long list of cheating American athletes. It isn't a China thing or an American thing. As long as there are competitive sports there will be cheating athletes from every country.

8-13-2008 @ 1:42PM

April said...

The difference is, the American athletes cheated on their own; China is helping their athletes cheat. When an American athlete is caught cheating, they are disqualified or stripped of a title. The Chinese government will cover up any document proving the true age of these girls.

8-14-2008 @ 1:04PM

Carly said...

In response to Mark, you would also recall that Marion Jones came clean and was stripped of her gold medals. This is a different situation. If a gymnast was suspected of doping they would be tested for it. Those Chinese gymnasts are suspected of being underage and the FIG and IOC are sitting there with their tails between their legs. Cheating is cheating. It was wrong when Marion Jones did it, and it's wrong now with the Chinese gymnasts.

8-23-2008 @ 1:04PM

bob said...

mark you are a dumbass, you are probably chinese too. marion jones admitted she took drugs, lance armstrong didn't ever take drugs (no proof whatsoever), the baseball ppl took drugs on their own it wasn't the us gov who force fed them drugs. you are a frikin idiot. the chinese have always been cheaters from stealing us nuclear technology to falsifying passports. the bullshit passports were issued THIS year. compared the the other documents which were issued like 10 yrs ago. mark go jump into a gutter and stay there

8-26-2008 @ 11:06AM

minnesotagirl said...

We all know about the other cheaters but there was a governing body who made the rules stick and what is making us all angry is that the IOC doesn't care and isn't interested in fiding out the truth. As for Lance Armstrong, his former teammates have sour grapes. How many times was he tested before, during and after his races and not once did he come up positive! The rest belong in your statement he doesn't.

8-13-2008 @ 8:26AM

T.J. said...

Deceit is not honorable, and in the Asian cultures especially, honor is suppose to be very important. It is definitely missing in these Olympics. It started out with the little girl they claimed to be singing the Chinese anthem. The true identity of the girl who was singing was kept hidden because it was felt that she was not cute enough?

Cute enough are they serious? The little girl I saw was a cutie, she looked like a little kid whose big teeth are coming in, so what? It was said that she felt honored to having sung for the Olympics or something to that effect. Which is crap, the government was her mouthpiece. Her self esteem of course was crushed, and we wonder why little girls think they're not good enough for society? So sad!

8-13-2008 @ 8:34AM

Jason said...

The important difference, Mark, is that cheating athletes are reviled in the West. Barry Bonds for example drew the famous asterisk marked ball and was regularly booed. Marion Jones was stripped of her medals and disgraced. And if it is proven that Lance Armstrong actually did cheat than he'll receive similar treatment.

Another important difference is that the athletes you mentioned are adults that cheated of their own volition. These Chinese children are being pushed into cheating by their government or trainers. While the athletes you talk about generally cheated for fame and monetary gain these kids are doing it because if they don't... well I'll leave what happens if you go against the Chinese government to your imagination.

All of this is aside from the fact that your argument seems to be that it's not a big deal China is cheating since someone else has cheated at other things in the past. Think about that for a second.

8-23-2008 @ 12:30AM

crzymoomoo said...

hey, how many of your guys out there have ever been to china? and how much you know about chinese government? there is an old chinese saying: you see limited space when sitting all the way at the bottom of a well. so, please stop talking like a big china expert now. if possible, please just go visit china only once, you'll probably know what i am saying.

8-13-2008 @ 12:51PM

All is fair. . . really . . . is it? said...

HELLO!!! IT IS SO OBVIOUS THAT THESE GIRLS ARE NOT 16!!! ITS SAD THAT THEY WILL RESORT TO ANYTHING TO WIN

8-13-2008 @ 7:21PM

Cindy Kiner said...

Who or whom is capable of making a formal complaint so that this will be researched further? I looked at another website that said the American Committee didn't want to pursue this issue. I can understand but someone should. If anyone knows an answer to this question, I would love to hear it. I hope that a fomal complaint be brought and the gold, silver and bronze medals be appropriately placed. We should all remember this is not just for the Americans.

8-13-2008 @ 7:47PM

Karen said...

One look at the Chinese team tells you they are middle schoolers. If the country doesn't play by the rules, then perhaps the country should lose the medal. This won't happen, they are the host country. What a shameful lesson this teaches. If one country alters ages in order to have an edge, what will the next country do. Re: adult athletes who cheat: they are making the choice of their own free will; these little girls are puppets.

8-13-2008 @ 9:59PM

D Benjamin said...

Imagine if the good ole' U.S. of A. were the host country and we tried to pull something like this. The rest of the world would demand an investigation by the IOC and wouldn't care whether or not we were the host country. Wrong is wrong no matter who commits the offense.

8-13-2008 @ 10:41PM

nancy said...

it is obvious that the chinese girls are underage. you would have to be blind not to notice. also, these girls have not delveloped as a woman yet. their underdevelopment was also obvious.

also, i think it is terrible taking a little girl at the age of 3 for gymnastics and only allowing her to see her parents once a year.

8-14-2008 @ 1:25AM

Addison said...

"HELLO!!! IT IS SO OBVIOUS THAT THESE GIRLS ARE NOT 16!!! ITS SAD THAT THEY WILL RESORT TO ANYTHING TO WIN"

right... well if you think of it this way... at least they still have an education in the future. Look at our government, Bush disapproved a 2 billion dollars bill that would help benefit education for kids. For us... for our future, for your child's future. All for a war where they discovered no "weapons of mass destruction." Also, we went and ruined another country, they were unstable as it is, America just went and utterly destroyed it, and guess what? It's all our fault, and I highly doubt Bush will be able to fix it. So if you compare this to the Chinese, even if they are cheating, those girls still have families as opposed to those who lost their families in Iraq, that they can see, even if it is once per a year. They still will gain an education, something ours needs to be worked on. Also, many of China's provinces are POOR, families would of course sell their children to the government if they knew they could be given a chance at a better life. China has limited its families to only one child a family, what would you do to help your child? Is it wrong to send them away from their poor households? At least with the government they will surely be fed, kept clean, and live. Even if the families got health care in response, they would probably still do it in a heart-beat if they weren't given anything at all.