IOC asks for investigation of China's gymnasts - 奧運,世大運,亞運討論

IOC asks for investigation of China’s gymnasts

By NANCY ARMOUR, AP National Writer

BEIJING (AP)—The International Olympic Committee said Friday it had asked
gymnastics officials to investigate whether the Chinese women’s gymnastics
team that won the gold medal had underage athletes, saying “more information
has come to light.”

“We’ve asked the gymnastics federation to look into it further,” IOC
spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. “If there is a question mark and we have a
concern, which we do, we ask the governing body of any sport to look into it.
”

The IOC, which also asked the Chinese gymnastics federation to investigate,
would not give details on what new information prompted it to act now, three
days after the gymnastics competition ended.

Messages for the International Gymnastics Federation were not immediately
returned.

Chinese coach Lu Shanzhen told The Associated Press they gave the FIG new
documents on Thursday to try to remove the doubts about He Kexin’s age,
including an old passport, a residency card and her current ID card.

He said all these documents were issued by various departments of the Chinese
government and that he felt there was nothing more that they could do to put
peoples’ minds at ease.

The FIG has said repeatedly that a passport is the “accepted proof of a
gymnast’s eligibility,” and that China’s gymnasts have presented ones that
show they are age eligible. The IOC also checked the girls’ passports and
deemed them valid.

A gymnast must be 16 in an Olympic year to compete at the games. But
questions about the ages of at least three of the athletes have persisted.
Online records and media reports suggest three Chinese gymnasts—He, Jiang
Yuyuan and Yang Yilin—may be as young as 14.

The IOC had said previously that it had verified the passports of all
athletes competing at the games.

“We are not in a position to say ‘It’s good, it’s not good.’ It’s a
government document,” FIG president Bruno Grandi said earlier this week in
an interview with The Associated Press.

The Chinese women won six medals, including the team gold and a gold on
uneven bars by He. The media reports include a Nov. 3 story by the Chinese
government’s news agency, Xinhua—that suggest He is only 14. She was asked
about her age again after winning the uneven bars title, beating American
Nastia Liukin in a tiebreak.

“I was born in 1992 and I’m 16 years old now,” He said Monday. “The FIG
has proved that. If I’m under 16, I couldn’t have been competing here.”

Earlier this month, the AP found registration lists previously posted on the
Web site of the General Administration of Sport of China that showed both He
and Yang were too young to compete. He was born Jan. 1, 1994, according to
the 2005, 2006 and 2007 registration lists. Yang was born Aug. 26, 1993,
according to the 2004, 2005 and 2006 registration lists; in the 2007
registration list, however, her birthday has changed to Aug. 26, 1992.

If the FIG would find evidence supporting the questions that the gymnasts are
underage, it could affect four of China’s medals. In addition to the team
gold and He’s gold on bars, Yang won bronzes in the all-around and uneven
bars.

“We played fair at this Olympic Games,” Liukin’s father and coach, Valeri,
said after they arrived back in the United States. “… If somebody cheated,
shame on them.”

Added Steve Penny, president of USA Gymnastics, “USA Gymnastics has always
believed this issue needed to be addressed by the FIG and IOC. An
investigation would help bring closure to the issue and remove any cloud of
speculation from this competition.”

Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics since the 1980s after the
minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to protect young athletes from serious
injuries. The minimum age was raised to its current 16 in 1997.

North Korea was barred from the 1993 world championships after FIG officials
discovered that Kim Gwang Suk, the gold medalist on uneven bars in 1991, was
listed as 15 for three years in a row. Romania admitted in 2002 that several
gymnasts’ ages had been falsified, including Olympic medalists Gina Gogean
and Alexandra Marinescu.

Even China’s own Yang Yun, a double bronze medalist in Sydney, said during
an interview aired on state broadcaster China Central Television that she was
14 in 2000.

Associated Press writer John Leicester and AP sports writer Steve Wilson
contributed to this report.


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