China and the Olympics

[trashtalkr]

Age discrimination usually only counts for older people - not younger. And yes, I think there is something wrong with a 12 or 14 yr old competing. A body that young cannot endure the stress of intense training that Olympic sports requires. With the training that the Chinese put their athletes through, it could ruin a body for life at that age

[darklighter1]

but I will say maybe it is possible....
...I was recently hittin' it with a 29 year old South Korean that looked barely legal..... so, I guess maybe we could give them the benefit of the doubt.

I have to agree with one of the US comentators that pointed out the stupidity of the "minimum age" rule as a form of age discrimination. If the Olympic competitions are where the world's best compete, should age be a restriction? If a 12 or 14 year old is the best, should they not be allowed to compete while at the peak of their game/sport?

Yeah that's what my bitch :laff: was saying too. She's 29 but looks 19 so she starts pulling the whole Yoda act out on me saying "judge me by how I look do you? Do I look 29?...no I do not", so who knows.

[trashtalkr]

Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, www.hb.xinhuanet.com

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday's uneven bars final.

Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games.

Source: Sports Illustrated

So it's not just someone looking at them thinking that they look young, it's that there are reports of forged passports and a Chinese conspiracy

[AYHJA]

w00p there it is...

[trashtalkr]

Michael Phelps is the shit! 8 Gold medals, 7 world records, 1 Olympic record. Damn dude....

There are some other awesome stories in the Olympics though. Natalie Coughlin became the 1st American woman to win 6 medals in the Olympic year. Dara Torres, 41, won 3 silver medals. She won her last one only 10 minutes after her 2nd. That's impressive.

I love what Phelps has done, but it's exciting to see some of the other great accomplishments

[darklighter1]

It's just too bad we're getting our ass kicked in Gold by the Chinese....the benefits of billions of employees I guess. Damn! :disappoint:

[AYHJA]

You win some, you loose some as they say...