Will you be happy or sad is the Chinese gymnast is stripped of her medals?

[XT]

@Carmady

The rule is completely ridiculous.

I disagree, but it really doesn’t matter. It IS the rule right now and if it can be proved (can it?) that someone competed under age then they should lose their medals. Simple as that. The proper forum for change is to agitate to change the rules.

Out of curiosity, are you saying that anyone of any age should be able to compete? That, say, if a 7 year old can compete that they should be allowed? 6? 5? Regardless of what this may do either emotionally or physically to them? As it is I think it’s disgusting that 3 year old children are being trained seriously for ANY sport. Gods know what emotional and physical effect that will have on them. And think of all the children who were forced to train starting at 3 (not their choice) and who trained for years and just didn’t make the grade. What of them?

-XT

[Carmady]

@Diogenes the Cynic

What’s unfair about their advantage? The rule doesn’t exist because their advantage is unfair (that’s like saying tall guys have an unfair advantage in basketball). The rule exists to prevent child exploitation, not because of any unfair advantage.

Their advantage is that underage gymnasts from other countries were not allowed to compete.

I agree that the other olympic gymnasts have no complaint, but maybe the best gymnast in the world is a 15 year old who was sitting at home watching the games.

[What_Exit]

@Diogenes the Cynic

What’s unfair about their advantage? The rule doesn’t exist because their advantage is unfair (that’s like saying tall guys have an unfair advantage in basketball). The rule exists to prevent child exploitation, not because of any unfair advantage.

Cite please, that is not my understanding of the ruling. The way I heard it, it was both to cut down on exploitation and just as importantly to keep women gymnastics as a womens sports and not a girls sports.

Apparently the little girls have a big advantage in getting height in jumps, swings around the uneven bars and tossing themselves in the air on the floor exercises. Now the rule is somewhat arbitrary, but it is the rule and if He is only 14, she should not have been competing at all.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@kidchameleon

No one’s going to die if she loses them, either. You may revel in lying, but I think that they should be punished.

Calling her a liar who needs to be punished is just about as twisted as her government exploiting her in firts place. You do understand that she had no choice about this, don’t you?

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@What Exit?

Cite please, that is not my understanding of the ruling. The way I heard it, it was both to cut down on exploitation and just as importantly to keep women gymnastics as a womens sports and not a girls sports.

Apparently the little girls have a big advantage in getting height in jumps, swings around the uneven bars and tossing themselves in the air on the floor exercises. Now the rule is somewhat arbitrary, but it is the rule and if He is only 14, she should not have been competing at all.

I’ll tell you what. You are the one who asserted that Olympics Comittee, for some reason, decided that being more athletic is an unfair advantage for athletes. You provide the cite. Maybe smaller bodies are an advantage, but it’s not an “unfair” advantage anymore than being bigger and stronger is an unfair advantage in football.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Diogenes the Cynic

Calling her a liar who needs to be punished is just about as twisted as her government exploiting her in firts place. You do understand that she had no choice about this, don’t you?

Again, you should stop putting words into people’s mouths. I thought **kidchamleon **was talking about the Chinese in general. There is no doubt about the fact that somebody lied here, and that is all his post said.

[Carmady]

@xtisme

Out of curiosity, are you saying that anyone of any age should be able to compete? That, say, if a 7 year old can compete that they should be allowed? 6? 5?

If a 7 year old was the fastest sprinter in the world, should they be allowed to compete?

Why is gymnastics being singled out? “Underage” athletes compete in other events.
The fact remains that it is an arbitrary age limit which does not take physical or emotional development into account.

It destroys the idea of the olympics having the best athletes in their event.
And again, how do you respond to the unfairness that a gymnast could turn 15 in an olympic year, and never be allowed to compete in the olympics during the entire peak of their career?

At the very least the age limit needs to be lowered to 14.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Diogenes the Cynic

I’ll tell you what. You are the one who asserted that Olympics Comittee, for some reason, decided that being more athletic is an unfair advantage for athletes. You provide the cite. Maybe smaller bodies are an advantage, but it’s not an “unfair” advantage anymore than being bigger and stronger is an unfair advantage in football.

Right. Like guys on steroids are bigger and stronger. There is a rule in place to keep them from doping for a reason, just like there is a rule in place to prevent underage girls from competing for a reason.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@Labrador Deceiver

Again, you should stop putting words into people’s mouths. I thought **kidchamleon **was talking about the Chinese in general. There is no doubt about the fact that somebody lied here, and that is all his post said.

No, he was talking about the kid. He called her a “lying little girl” further upthread.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@Labrador Deceiver

Right. Like guys on steroids are bigger and stronger. There is a rule in place to keep them from doping for a reason, just like there is a rule in place to prevent underage girls from competing for a reason.

Hoow is natural athleticism an unfair advantage? The rule exists to prevent exploitation, like I said.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Diogenes the Cynic

Hoow is natural athleticism an unfair advantage? The rule exists to prevent exploitation, like I said.

Right. Steroid rules exist to prevent exploitation.

The word “natural” is meaningless, so I’ll ignore it.

[What_Exit]

@Diogenes the Cynic

I’ll tell you what. You are the one who asserted that Olympics Comittee, for some reason, decided that being more athletic is an unfair advantage for athletes. You provide the cite. Maybe smaller bodies are an advantage, but it’s not an “unfair” advantage anymore than being bigger and stronger is an unfair advantage in football.

That is why I asked for help. I know I am unsure of the wording of the rules and explanation of it. I am going by my faulty memory of what I heard on the coverage. If you know that it is nothing but exploitation, please cite, as far as I know, you are incorrect.

[What_Exit]

I am in the meantime trying to find a cite. This is of interest though as to punishment. Here is aprior example.

In 1991, a tiny North Korean, Kim Gwang-Suk, won the gold medal on uneven bars. Later, officials discovered that her birth date had been changed three times, meaning that her age stayed the same for three years. As a result, gymnastics’ governing body banned North Korea from competing at the 1993 Worlds.

[kidchameleon]

@Diogenes the Cynic

No, he was talking about the kid. He called her a “lying little girl” further upthread.

[

@AP

“I was born in 1992 and I’m 16 years old now,” He said Monday.

](http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/08/21/bc.oly.gym.underage.chinese.ap/index.html?eref=sircrc)

If she’s not 16, she’d be what we call a liar. Of her own volition.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@Labrador Deceiver

Right. Steroid rules exist to prevent exploitation.

The word “natural” is meaningless, so I’ll ignore it.

I’m stumped as to why you can’t tell the difference here.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Diogenes the Cynic

No, he was talking about the kid. He called her a “lying little girl” further upthread.

So he did. My apologies.

[Windwalker]

Everyone cheats here in China. Students cheat on everything (and the administrations rarely seem to give a shit), and you usually get ahead not by merit, but by nepotism and bribery. I’d really love to see a very well-publicized and excruciatingly humiliating punishment for this. They shouldn’t focus on the girl and instead look on her as a victim, which she is. The medals should still be stripped, however, and the gymnastics team should be banned for the next two Olympics, all of this happening in as loud and official a manner as possible.

Losing international face will be a true punishment for them, I guarantee.

[Diogenes_the_Cynic]

@kidchameleon

[URL=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/08/21/bc.oly.gym.underage.chinese.ap/index.html?eref=sircrc]

If she’s not 16, she’d be what we call a liar. Of her own volition.

Except it’s not of her own volition.

[Labrador_Deceiver]

@Diogenes the Cynic

I’m stumped as to why you can’t tell the difference here.

I’m stumped that you even bothered to put forth your position in the first place, but here we are. Its not my fault that you can’t come up with a reasonable response.

[Carmady]

@kidchameleon

[URL=http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/olympics/2008/08/21/bc.oly.gym.underage.chinese.ap/index.html?eref=sircrc]

If she’s not 16, she’d be what we call a liar. Of her own volition.

Wow. So she is not emotionally mature enough to compete.

But she is emotionally strong enough to stand up to a communist government that can destroy her and her family if she doesn’t do exactly what they say.

Interesting.