I consider that to be a hell of a lot worse! 
I didn’t necessarily mean to imply that it’s along the lines of “if you ever want to see your parents alive again, you will stick around.” But I agree that housing can disappear, jobs can disappear, brothers and sisters will find themselves without opportuinites for education, etc.
I agree with PunditLisa. I was hoping the US would win the gold, and my heart sank when Sacramone fell off the beam less than a second into her routine. But regardless of age, those Chinese girls/young women are incredible atheletes. And I’m glad they will at least have this moment to look back on, instead of thinking all their suffering was for nothing.
Pash
Hey, I’m 5’6" and I have an 18.5" neck. Trust me, some people just have big necks.
I couldn’t help but notice that one of the U.S. gymnasts, Alicia Sacrome, has actual fat deposits in her ass, thighs, and breasts – she’s at least somewhat curvy. Quite an accomplishment for a gymnast. I think she should get a bonus from the judges.
(She 20, so it’s ok to gawk. It’s also ok to make “I’d give her a ‘bonus’” jokes, but I’ll leave that to someone else.)
Alicia Sacramone, I assume you mean. Who played the largest role in losing the U.S. the gold this time, for what it’s worth.
Oops, yeah, typo on my part. They probably wouldn’t have won the gold even if she hadn’t faltered on the last two rotations.
Yes, we should be ashamed that the US won a silver medal.
I think you’re reading more into my post than I intended to convey.
As I said to my husband after hearing that story, “Fuck your non-gymnastic asses! I’ve got my medals and my endorsements. See ya!” I would make sure that my “better life” did not include them at all!
Alicia Sacramone reminds me of Jessica Simpson.
Just an FYI.
I wonder how many young girls were taken away from their families to train for years and years and didn’t make it to the Olympics. These girls were just the cream of the crop. That makes me sad…
I was noticing during the competition how much advantage the smaller girls have. Just look at the balance beam. The little Chinese girls can stand with both feet side-by-side on the beam much more easily than the larger girls. One of the smaller competitors did three flips on the beam. A girl six inches taller wouldn’t have had enough room without stopping and backing up. All of the apparatus is the same size for everyone.
With the men (rings, parallel bars, pommel horse, high bar…) this doesn’t make much difference. With the women, (uneven parallels, balance beam…)it gives a decided advantage to the smaller ones. Even on the floor exercises, the smaller girls have more room (in proportion to their body size) to perform complex maneuvers.
And how old are you? Twelve?
I keep thinking Women’s (girl’s?) gymnastics should be split into weight (body-size) classes somewhat similar to boxing.
I was watching the mens gymnastics all-around competition last night, and the commentators (CBC) said that most countries have only few top-level athletes that could be Olympic medal contenders, and then the other members of their national team that can compete internationally but aren’t really extremely top-level.
But apparently the Chinese mens team is incredibly deep and they have many strong gymnasts at their national training centre who are “in reserve”. They weren’t the very best of the best in China to make their Olympic team, but in any other country they would be the best on that team.
I’ve been posting in another thread about this. Media reports make it look more and more likely these kids are underage and have been allowed to compete because China faked their passports. The IOC doesn’t seem to give a shit.
Well, we can argue all day long about how fast women mature, and whether Asians look younger that Caucasians and blah blah blah. But all this about how the passports were in error and they have now been corrected is such obvious BS that it’s laughable. And, you are right that the IOC isn’t going to do a thing about it, but when you consider everything else they had to overlook to justify giving China these games, I would be seriously surprised if this was the thing they are going to make a big fuss about.
Gateway Pundit has tons of links and archived pages.
CNN has a video report outlining the controversy.
It raises (for me) an interesting question at the end:
If the US team had won the gold, would there be the same level of scrutiny on the Chinese gymnast ages?
If not, then isn’t it just a case of “sour grapes”?
Probably. From what I recall people were talking about this even before the Olympics started.
I’d still have the exact same problem with this, even if the girls all turned out to be over 16. Has nothing to do with whether the US team won or lost.
-XT
I believe you mistyped. You would still have the same problem (that is, the Chinese girls possibly being underaged), even if all the girls turned out not to be?