The Chinese women's gymnastics team did not use underage competitors during this year's Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Gymnastics Federation said Wednesday.
The federation said it has concluded its inquiry into the matter after it confirmed the gymnasts' ages through official documents that the Chinese Gymnasts Association provided. The documents included passports, identity cards and household registers.
However, the organization intends to further investigate the ages of two gymnasts, Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, who participated in the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia. The federation said it did not consider the explanations and evidence that Chinese authorities provided in regard to those athletes as satisfactory.
The International Olympic Committee had asked gymnastics officials to clarify the situation after numerous commentators, bloggers and others questioned whether about half the members of China's team were old enough to compete.
Athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place. In women's gymnastics, younger girls can have an advantage over older competitors on account of their often smaller, lighter and more agile bodies.
The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Beijing games, and five members won individual medals.
One of the challenges came from a blogger known as 'Stryde Hax'. The blogger claimed to have uncovered proof that Chinese gymnast He Kexin is only 14. In Internet searches, Stryde Hax allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China's General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He.
02 October 2008
No kids after all
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China has no qualms about counterfeiting material certificates or code certifications for industrial products. Why would we think they would not produce fake birth certificates?
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