Chinese Gymnast too young

[Miss Z]

Well I for one will say that you'd have to be a human rubber-band to be more flexible than those gymnasts who ARE sixteen and over! If the girl's good enough, let her compete.

I had a look at the photos and I can't make up my mind how old she is, she doesn't look much younger than the other gymnasts stood on the podium. Gymnasts are generally so petite that they all look about twelve to me, anyway.

[Karen]

Yes, I thought Alicia Sacramone, the one gymnast from Massachusetts that basically lost the gold for the US, was very, very dignified and gracious. First the reporters were seemingly trying to get her to feel even worse than she already did about the US not getting gold because of her fall. She was calm, held it together, and spoke about the team, and winning the silver despite all the injuries.

Then, one reporter asked her about the stories that some of the Chinese gymnasts looked younger than 16. She calmly replied that no one outside of gymnastics ever believes her when she says she is 20 years old either, and she refused to take the reporter's bait.

When you realize how Nastia Lukin "towers over" all the other gymnasts, and then learn that she is all of 5' 3", you know these are all small young women, and are going to have a hard time being taken seriously until they are old enough to have grey hair. My cousin, who is maybe 5'3" (in heels) and in her twenties could easily "diet down" to a size zero, used to be asked for ID when she ordered an alcoholic drink even when she was 25 years old, which often mortified her dates!

[sparks19]

Well I for one will say that you'd have to be a human rubber-band to be more flexible than those gymnasts who ARE sixteen and over! If the girl's good enough, let her compete.

I had a look at the photos and I can't make up my mind how old she is, she doesn't look much younger than the other gymnasts stood on the podium. Gymnasts are generally so petite that they all look about twelve to me, anyway.

it's a nice thought... but rules are rules and if you make the exception for her... what about everyone else who followed the rules? What about others who have broken other rules? should they just be overlooked because they were good enough? It sets a precedent and that could lead to a whole bunch of problems.

Yeah it's really hard to tell with some of those girls how old they really are. they are all so petite.

[jennielynn1970]

Between the little girl who was a lip sync'er, the fireworks that really weren't, and now the ages of two of the female gymnasts.

What else is fake?

Yes, they are great gymnasts, and I don't think anyone is disputing that fact, but rules are rules. They are there for a reason, and need to be followed.

[kitten645]

This and many other factors.... human rights, animal rights, Tibet etc are why I'm boycotting all things olympic in China. It's all smoke and mirrors JMHO.
Claudia

[sparks19]

Between the little girl who was a lip sync'er, the fireworks that really weren't, and now the ages of two of the female gymnasts.

What else is fake?

Yes, they are great gymnasts, and I don't think anyone is disputing that fact, but rules are rules. They are there for a reason, and need to be followed.

Oh I don't think I heard anything about the fireworks... they were fake? how does that work? With all the other strange occurances I missed that one lol

[Karen]

Oh I don't think I heard anything about the fireworks... they were fake? how does that work? With all the other strange occurances I missed that one lol

Just the "footprints over Beijing" weren't real that night, they had been previously done, and edited into the sequence we saw as part of the opening ceremony. Which didn't bother me at all, frankly, as if anyone's gonna do fireworks right, it's the nation that invented them, and there were plenty of other real, spectacular fireworks as part of the opening ceremonies.

[sparks19]

Just the "footprints over Beijing" weren't real that night, they had been previously done, and edited into the sequence we saw as part of the opening ceremony. Which didn't bother me at all, frankly, as if anyone's gonna do fireworks right, it's the nation that invented them, and there were plenty of other real, spectacular fireworks as part of the opening ceremonies.

ahhhh I see. I missed the fireworks part of the opening ceremony.

[cassiesmom]

Are there different ages for different sports? I heard on the news that one of the synchronized divers was 14.

Yeah it's really hard to tell with some of those girls how old they really are. they are all so petite.

I wonder if all those hours of training and competing messes with their hormones. They're all so small and they all look so young. I remember when Kerri Strug was interviewed on TV after she vaulted on a sprained ankle. She had such a high-pitched voice, even though she was a teenager. The 33-year-old German gymnast seemed to be the only one in these games who had a normal appearing female body.