Katrina sent me a link to a funny take on the most recent Chinese age falsification scandal.
John Powers:
… The Chinese, who are notorious for falsifying ages of their women’s gymnasts, evidently have been doing the same with their figure skaters for years. According to birthdates on their federation’s website discovered by the Associated Press, nine athletes, most notably Olympic pairs medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, either were too young or too old to be competing in senior and junior world championships. …
What’s baffling is why the Chinese, whose Internet censoring borders on the paranoid, would post any athletes’ ages there at all. Either they’re brazen, careless, or just plain clueless. In any case, they’ve got some explaining to do …
Boston Globe – China’s figures off again
That is baffling. It’s as if an affluent totalitarian regime is inefficient. Their bureaucratic toadies can’t keep track of what birth year is required in each sport.
Actually, Dan and Hao have already been cleared, it seems.
International skating officials found no discrepancies in the birthdates of three Chinese figure skaters, including 2006 Olympic pairs silver medalists Zhang Dan and Zhang Hao, after questions were raised about their eligibility. …
Chinese sports officials acknowledged Friday there were inconsistencies in some of the recorded ages of their athletes and said they were taking measures to fix the problem.
Winter Sports Administration director Zhao Yinggang said the body was verifying birthdates listed for more than half a dozen figure skaters after questions were raised about different dates given to different governing bodies….
It will be interesting to see how this all plays out.
littlemissgymnast has a poll right now on the FIG age requirement for the Olympics.
Gymnastics Coaching.com 