Very Little Girls in Pretty Boxes

Apparently accusations about underage gymnasts and falsified documents have been circulating for over a month now, but for many of us (and by US I mean ME), last night was the first time we got a good look at the Chinese "women's" gymnastics team and learned that we weren't the only ones asking the obvious question:

These girls are 16 years old? Are you...sure about that?

Serious allegations have been raised that at least three of China's female gymnasts are not of legal competition age (which means they turn 16 at some point during the Olympic calendar year). One or more of them is as young as 12 years old, others are likely 14 years old.

The Chinese government provided Chinese-government issued passports as proof that the girls are old enough, and the International Olympic Committee accepted the documents as proof that everything is above board and a-ok. Passports. Not birth certificates. No explanation as to why several Chinese sports registries showed that He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Yang Yilin did not meet the age requirement, as reported by the New York Times.

Bela Karolyi, the former coach of Mary Lou Retton and Nadia Comaneci, is PISSED.

“This is a joke. We are people who have had children of our own, so we know what a 16-year-old should look like. They should not look like they are 7 and maybe still in diapers.

“What the Chinese are doing is a slap in the face of the whole world, but there is nothing we can do about it.”

Adding to the fire, a video surfaced of Yang Yun, who won two bronze medals in the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, in which she admits (on state-run television, mind you!) that she was only 14 years old when she competed.

Personally, I think a lot of the Olympic gymnasts look too young, too small, too not-as-God-intended-adolescent-girls-to-look. I get very motherly and fretful while watching them, worrying about their health and childhoods and whether or not they've been pushed into this past a reasonable level. I worry about there being another Christy Henrich.

I thrilled at the sight of 33-year-old Oksana Chusovitina, nailing the same vault as her possibly pre-pubescent rivals, for the country that came to the aid of her leukemia-stricken son.

But still. Those Chinese girls look super-extra young. And I fucking hate cheating.

Source

Comments

[Lori]

I was thinking the same thing this weekend. If those are 16 year olds then... um... words escape me but still.

Another gymnastic-y thing that was bothering me was hearing a commentator bemoan the lack of discipline and the end of an era amongst the Romanian gymnasts. "They never would have been joking and chatting in the old days"... uh... you mean the old days when they were under the thumb of a ruthless dictator? those old days?

[Donna L.]

I suggest you don't watch any of the Olympic events if you hate cheating because that's the name of the game.

[Karen]

Gymnasts very often do look younger than their years--they eat less, work out more than their peers and their growth is stunted.

And often, the gymnasts who are just naturally smaller due to genetics are favored by the coaches. The smaller, the faster.

That said, they look way too young even with all that taken into account.

[blissfully caffeinated]

Wow. Even though they are under international scrutiny and are hosting the damn thing, they are still ballsy enough to do something like this. I agree, many gymnasts look younger than their years (often due to over exercising and lack of uh, eating) but these girls just look too young. Sad.

[Barbara]

Was there really any doubt that China was not above cheating? Meanwhile Dara Torres is starting to piss me off with her 43 year old supreme being hotness. Having my husband look at my 5 month pregnant self and say, "See honey, you can at least swim laps." makes me want to slap that woman. And then hug her, because it's not her fault she's awesome.

[makyo]

right there with you amalah! seeing chusovitina nail both her vaults caused me to turn to the hubby and say "take that pseudo-16-year-olds!" the american girls look young, but like karen said above, to a certain extent that is normal. however, the girls on the chinese team look like infants. there's no way those girls are all 16.

[Ana]

OK, have any of you taken into account obvious genetic differences between Asians Caucasian? American gymnasts are really, really short too. Gymnasts are picked for their size, the sport stunts growth, etc...

To be objective you need to ask yourself how much shorter the gymnasts are than their national averages. You will find that most Chinese women are much smaller than most American women, naturally. Wouldn't it follow that the smallest and most stunted Chinese women would be smaller than their American counterparts?

They have a nation of over a billion asian people, a nation of many, many tens of millions of little Asian girls. How hard do you think it is to find 6 that are exceptionally small, even for other Chinese girls?

This is just smart sports: pick kids who are genetically suited for their sport.

Age is not the issue anyway. Everyone is angry about how small they are. Well, if the 4'6'' girl is 14, will she be taller at 16? I would venture to say no. Female gymnasts stay short forever.

This all sounds like more China Bashing to me. Just propaganda being spewed by a jealous and failing western world.

[Amalah]

Oh yes, I know gymnasts are just generally small and young looking -- sometimes by crazy genetics, sometimes by crazy design -- but there's just such a difference. I think Team USA looks like a bunch of 16 year old girls -- even the littlest one has a maturity to her face and compact body that the Chinese girls don't.

And the glittery makeup they've smeared all over them isn't helping -- they remind me of child beauty pageant contestants.

Bela is in favor of just eliminating the age limit and making gymnasts compete by weight class, like wrestlers. So fine, send a 65-pound 12-year-old to the Olympics, but she won't be competing with the seasoned, experienced athletes who may actually weigh 100 pounds. Of course, wrestlers are still dying of eating disorders to make lower weight classes, so...sigh.

[Suzy Q]

There is NO FREAKING WAY all those Chinese girls are 16. Especially the first little girl who tumbled. She's maybe 9 or 10, tops. And they put her in a little padded bra.

And it's not just the shortness, Ana. Look at their *faces*. They are the faces of children, not adolescents!

[Amalah]

Ana - actually, age IS the issue. There's no height or weight requirement for gymnasts, but the rules state that the girls must be 16. There's evidence that at one point, these girls were competing using their real ages, which have since mysteriously been upped by a couple years.

Sure, their natural smaller size does give them an advantage, but it's not "China bashing" to demand that the size advantage is not being further exploited by entering underage athletes (who, in addition to being smaller, have two or more fewer years of ankle and knee injuries that ALSO give them an unfair advantage).

[sils]

When did the age limit change? Dominique Moceanu was only 13-14 when she was on the US Olympic team.

[Jen]

Taper Nerd and I had this same discussion while watching the gymnastics stuff last night. The American girls looked like giants in comparison. And yes, I agree that gymnasts tend to be smaller...it's not their size that makes the Chinese girls seem so young, it's their faces and demeanor.

[birdgal]

My husband and I sat and stared at the TV and could NOT believe that some of those Chinese girls were 16. No way, no how. I'm glad we weren't the only ones (yeah, I didn't know there was any 'controversy' before I tuned in to the Olympic coverage last night).

[baltimoregal]

First, there is NO WAY that Amy is China-bashing. NO WAY. That is not at all her point.

Second, this is why I stopped watching gymnastics, and really, the Olympics. The gymnasts started looking less like adults and more like children. They could be of age, they could not. It doesn't matter to me anymore because somewhere in the 80s it became evident that things were changing, that the Olympics were corrupt.

[Barbara]

Bmoregal: What about the athletes doing everything they can to prove they are not cheating? The ones submitting to intensive scrutiny in order to preserve the integrity of their abilities. They are the reason I do watch. Dara Torres and the rest of the US Olympians who have gone so far as to have their blood stored for any FUTURE TESTS that may be developed, well that speaks volumes, doesn't it. Isn't that worth some support.

As for China bashing and the "failing western world." Girl, please. We are talking about athletics, not world domination here. China wants to put on a good show of their athletes and seems to be guilty of some pretty underhanded shenanigans to accomplish that. And so we bitch. That is what we do here. Get over it.

[Ana]

Regarding "China Bashing" - if you have been subjecting yourself to US media these past months, you will no doubt have absorbed countless pieces of Chinese propaganda.

EU leaders have of course boycotted opening ceremonies. "Human Rights Violations" ... who are they to talk. The hypocrisy stinks on all ends.

Now, the only reason i said that the issue was not age but size, is because I was under the impression that everyone was focussing on how small they are and how they must be young to be that small.

If the objection is their faces and how young they look, then I say that is cultural too. Young American teenagers look way older than most young asians.

One of my best friends my freshman year in college was chinese. He started college at 16. He looked 12, on a good day. He is now almost 30 and still gets carded. I am not exaggerating.

I have spent considerable time in Asia. I am telling you, a great many of them look very, very young as teenagers. This illusion is of course amplified by very small size. Not all teenagers look like Americans.

So am I saying that it is impossible that they cheated? No, of course not.

What I am saying is that the Times and other US outlets have out right lied many, many times in the recent past. They have been caught on their outright lies and have not publicly retracted. So, is it possible that this is all a pack of lies, just another "Bad-China" news piece? Yes. I find that scenario more likely than the first.

[JennyM]

Wasn't the age limit imposed *after* the 1996 Olympics, when Moceaneau (sp?) competed? I seem to remember a lot of discussion about it then. Ultimately, whether the story is true or not, what on earth can be done about it? If a country's government (allegedly, if you like) is willing to falsify official documents in an effort to gain a (dubious) competitive advantage, what do you do? I mean, short of having an original copy of the unfalsified document in your hands?

[JZMom]

Also, in China, don't they count age the opposite of us? "We" count the number of years completed - "cumpleaños" in Spanish - meaning our birthday commemorates the end of a year. When my son turns 10 in December, it will be the end of his 10th year. I believe that, in China, he would be turning 11, because they count the beginning of a year, not the end.

Of course, they probably thought about that. I just thought I'd share what I remember from my fourth grade unit on China. We were all so excited that, if we were in China, we'd be one year closer to getting our drivers licenses.

Yeah, important stuff over here. Amalah is WAY more deep than I am.

[Amalah]

JennyM - Yes, the age limit was raised from 15 to 16 right after the 1996 Olympics. (Moceanu was 14 when she competed, but turned 15 by the end of the Olympic calendar year, meaning she met the requirement.) Kerri Strug and Nadia Comaneci were also 14 when they competed at the Olympics. There was HUGE outcry when the limit was raised, IIRC.

Obviously, I don't know nearly enough about gymnastics to debate whether or not the age limit is ridiculous or unfair or should be lifted. I can imagine it sucks for a 14-year-old who is peaking and delivering the best performances of her life to be just one year shy of Olympic eligibility, but...that's the rule, right? Our team follows it, that team follows it, everybody needs to follow it. The end.

But like you said, what can possibly be done about it? Yang Yun admitted she was underage but as far as I can tell there's been no move to take her medals away and give them to the fourth-place, of-age gymnast. It just all kind of blows. Back to Michael Phelps watching, I guess.

[baltimoregal]

Barbara, I totally get your point, but I have just been soured, I'm afraid, at least for a little while. Hopefully we can get past all this doping, deception, etc. on all sides someday.
As for your comments, Ana, I happen to have a Japanese aunt and two Japanese cousins (who live IN Japan) so I understand a bit about Asian culture myself. I also understand that there are plenty of Americans, like myself- who always looked younger than they are- know what that's like. But honestly, what is the likelihood that all 6 of the Chinese gymnasts would look so young? China is a very diverse culture. Certainly not all Chinese people look alike. Do the Korean and Japanese teams have the same issue? Or is it, like was said in the post, that issues have been raised because of the fact that the WHOLE team looks so young AND that there has been both little proof of age + the interview that surfaced. Sounds like reason enough to be suspicious to me.

[sils]

Thanks for clearing that up.

I totally missed the memo on the age limit change.

[qwyneth]

Ha, Ana, nice trump card! The US media lies and hates China, so you can't believe anything it says. We'll just have to believe you instead, because you've lived in Asia. You win at the internet!

Personally, I find it fascinating that at least one of the girls competed in a set of games in Wuhan on November 3, 2007 where you have to be older than 13 but younger than 15. The director of general administration of sport for China spoke about her, calling her 13 at the time. (ESPN article) Yang Yun admitting (on state-run television) that she competed underage also seems particularly damning to me.

[qwyneth]

Oh, also, I can unfortunately understand the IOC not wanting to investigate the issue further. They would pretty much have to call the Chinese government corrupt to challenge the accuracy of the ages listed on the passports. That seems like a pretty dumb thing to do while the Olympics are actually taking place in China. I mean, the IOC is full of fail, but it's not nice to insult your hosts, especially when they're notoriously twitchy.

[TypingPig]

Have any of you ever had Chinese or an Asian buddy during your schooling years? I live in the USA and in a part with many Asians and I can say that I've seen 30 year old girls look like they are in thier 20s. So, from my experiences most Chinese chicks that I have met look way younger than usual. Its a thing called baby face which is very popular in Japan/China/Korea etc. For this sport, they pick small frames so I guess it comes with a small body and face. There is a lot of China bashing going on, but whatever. Not all Chinese look young, but heck most Chinese I see look younger than the average white chick. Just my opnion.

[Fuzzy]

Chinese women are naturally petite and look younger than their age on average. Same thing with gymnasts-they are always smaller than average. With those factors in mind, it doesn't seem too far-fetched to me that the Chinese gymnasts are over 16.