If you follow the blogs, you are well aware of the issue. Quite possibly one of the biggest “scandals” of the 2008 Games.
There are many, many indications that the favourite to win Bars in Beijing He Kexin is actually underage.
Finally the story has hit the mainstream media. No doubt NBC and others will cover it relentlessly, even if no conclusive evidence ever is produced.
And for the first time to my knowledge, the age of Jiang Yuyuan is being challenged.
… In Chinese newspaper profiles this year, He was listed as 14, too young for the Beijing Games.
The Times found two online records of official registration lists of Chinese gymnasts that list He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A 2007 national registry of Chinese gymnasts — now blocked in China but viewable through Google cache — shows He’s age as “1994.1.1.â€
Another registration list that is unblocked, dated Jan. 27, 2006, and regarding an “intercity†competition in Chengdu, China, also lists He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date differs by two years from the birth date of Jan. 1, 1992, listed on He’s passport, which was issued Feb. 14, 2008.
There has been considerable talk about the ages of Chinese gymnasts on Web sites devoted to the sport. …
The other gymnast, Jiang, is listed on her passport — issued March 2, 2006 — as having been born on Nov. 1, 1991, which would make her 16 and thus eligible to compete at the Beijing Games.
A different birth date, indicating Jiang is not yet 15, appears on a list of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes includes national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded. Jiang’s national card number as it appears on this list shows her birth date as Oct. 1, 1993, which indicates that she will turn 15 in the fall, and would thus be ineligible to compete in the Beijing Games. …
Jiang Yuyuan – Show China
Thanks Em for sending in this link.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 