Beijing: 08-08-2008 - Page 10

nittanyalum · #**136** 08-13-2008, 10:31 PM

LOCH-TE
LOCH-TE
LOCH-TE

irishpipes · #**137** 08-13-2008, 10:41 PM

We have some amazing looking swimmers. The eyes on Peirsol and Lochte are incredible.

pbear19 · #**138** 08-13-2008, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by texas*princess

They won't lie about their ages their whole life.. probably only for the competitions. The "shelf life" of gymnasts probably isn't that long anyway since they [the country] will want to send their younger girls eventually since they are smaller, lighter, less afraid and all those other reasons they pick young girls.

There were many websites found with the real ages of some of those girls, and at least half of them are under 16. But they had passports (issued by the Government of course

) so they are able to compete. They will probably only use their fake age for another year or two for competitions only and by then China will have the next best girls to put in competitions.

I guess I'm too cynical.

I can't help but picture some ambitious journalist doing a 'where are they now' segment, or a helimom who can't let go making some effort to track them down in the future. I know they won't be gymnasts for much longer, but I don't think it's completely unlikely that someone will try to prove they cheated in the future, in which case the girls would have to continue living an alleged lie.

I guess if there is some kind of statute for having a medal taken away for cheating, then it wouldn't matter. But if it's proven in 4 years that one of those girls wasn't 16 (which like it or not, is the rule, and breaking it is technically cheating, even if they won on merit), wouldn't the IOC have something to say about it?

I don't know, I still feel sorry for them for the possibility that they may be under 16, but I tend to feel empathy for people in odd ways sometimes.

breathesgelatin · #**139** 08-13-2008, 10:58 PM

I wish I had time to write more, but anyone interested in the horror that is the Chinese sports system, read this article from the NY Times a few weeks ago:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/sp...00&oref=slogin

It's horrifying

nittanyalum · #**140** 08-13-2008, 11:02 PM

@ Jonathan Horton's biceps! Welcome to the gun show!

SOPi_Jawbreaker · #**141** 08-13-2008, 11:04 PM

Yes, and he is quite a cutie.

honeychile · #**142** 08-13-2008, 11:15 PM

We have to remember that the current Chinese culture is one of allowing only one child - so if your not-quite-as-desired daughter was selected to do ANYTHING by the government, it truly is an honor for that whole family. Hey, maybe the government even lets them have a second child!

All those who posted about their health and lack of muscle mass are completely on the money! When you see a healthy, 5'3" American teenager do a tumbling run, then a 4'6" Chinese preteen do one, who is more likely to step out of bounds? I feel sorry for those children, because they will probably never really mature properly and never learn the supposed real goal of the Olympics - sportsmanship.

breathesgelatin · #**143** 08-13-2008, 11:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

We have to remember that the current Chinese culture is one of allowing only one child - so if your not-quite-as-desired daughter was selected to do ANYTHING by the government, it truly is an honor for that whole family. Hey, maybe the government even lets them have a second child!

All those who posted about their health and lack of muscle mass are completely on the money! When you see a healthy, 5'3" American teenager do a tumbling run, then a 4'6" Chinese preteen do one, who is more likely to step out of bounds? I feel sorry for those children, because they will probably never really mature properly and never learn the supposed real goal of the Olympics - sportsmanship.

Re: the one-child thing, another messed up thing about China is that because families plan for only one child, it's been demonstrated that the number of boy babies being born is exceeding the number of girl babies (various cultural reasons - valuing a male heir, etc). Basically people are selectively aborting females.

It's been theorized that this will lead to massive social problems, starting NOW, in China.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5953508
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,281722,00.html

LttleMsPrEp · #**144** 08-13-2008, 11:33 PM

Quote:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/21/sp...00&oref=slogin

That article is definitely horrifying. It confirms all of our suspicions about the lack of quality of life for post-olympians. I think what makes it the most sad is that the guy the article mainly focused on is dying from a liver injury and they still wouldn't let him quit.

And as far as the Chinese families only being allowed to have one child and aborting alot of non-male babies.. eventually there aren't going to be enough women to go around.. I think I'm more shocked that it hasn't already reached that point yet.

Tinia2 · #**145** 08-13-2008, 11:37 PM

^^^^on a much, much lighter note, the brothers at jib jab have come up with their way to honor the olympics: http://sendables.jibjab.com/category/sports#
sorry no swimming

epchick · #**146** 08-13-2008, 11:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by honeychile

We have to remember that the current Chinese culture is one of allowing only one child - so if your not-quite-as-desired daughter was selected to do ANYTHING by the government, it truly is an honor for that whole family. Hey, maybe the government even lets them have a second child!

All those who posted about their health and lack of muscle mass are completely on the money! When you see a healthy, 5'3" American teenager do a tumbling run, then a 4'6" Chinese preteen do one, who is more likely to step out of bounds?

I don't think i'm understanding what you are saying. What does muscle mass have to do w/ stepping out of bounds?

And about the one-child thing. They are allowed to have more than one child. I think it might depend on the province but I do know that many of the Chinese that lived in my dorm had at least one sibling.

AGDee · #**147** 08-14-2008, 06:16 AM

They are allowed more than one child if they live in a rural area. This rule is explained well here:

http://geography.about.com/od/popula...a/onechild.htm

Taualumna · #**148** 08-14-2008, 10:16 AM

Because Asian women tend to be smaller, I don't think it was fair for the US media to compare the Chinese team to the US team, since there isn't an Asian athlete in the women's artistic gymnastics team. I did compare the Chinese team with the Japanese team, and there is a good 1 1/2"-2" difference on average for height and about 5-8 lb in weight. Many of the Japanese girls were around 4'11" and 85 lb, pretty normal for a 16 year old gymnast, I think. There was one tiny girl who is 4'7" but she isn't being singled out.

Kevin · #**149** 08-14-2008, 11:14 AM

The smoking gun has been discovered (and promptly taken off the internet by the Chinese gov't media).

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...sts/index.html

Quote:

BEIJING (AP) -- 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.

KSig RC · #**150** 08-14-2008, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Taualumna

Because Asian women tend to be smaller, I don't think it was fair for the US media to compare the Chinese team to the US team, since there isn't an Asian athlete in the women's artistic gymnastics team. I did compare the Chinese team with the Japanese team, and there is a good 1 1/2"-2" difference on average for height and about 5-8 lb in weight. Many of the Japanese girls were around 4'11" and 85 lb, pretty normal for a 16 year old gymnast, I think. There was one tiny girl who is 4'7" but she isn't being singled out.

Soooooo . . . even between the Asian women, the Chinese team is significantly shorter and about 10% lighter?

Soooooo . . . like, maybe a couple of years younger?