It's a textbook case of "a stupid rule, but still a rule." Yet something tells me no other proof to the contrary will be found, no medals will be revoked, and the IOC's officials' concerns about age manipulation will probably be left without any verifiable way to prove someone's birthdate if a country is hellbent on tweaking official documents. (Despite my blog colleague Rob Iracane's idea: "Slice 'em open and count the rings.") So hopefully the IOC doesn't try to police something that can't be proven and instead lowers the age requirement for non-contact sports.
Tune in next time for the latest expose: "Local Citizens Fed Up With Traffic."
Page 1 — Page 2
Article comments
1 - GaryCD
Actually,
there is a competitive advantage to have a child-like body (weight, length of limbs in proportion to body affecting torque, handling of force, etc.) Now, one could drop the minumum age of 16, making competition fair for all -- but as long as there is such a rule, shouldn't everyone, particularly a host nation, abide by it?
2 - El Bicho
So what if someone knowingly breaks the rules to give themselves an unfair advantage and wins?
I am guessing the IOC and the gymnastics community didn't seek your input into the age-limit rule, nor have I heard you discuss your background in gymnastics, so how would you know if "there's no real competitive edge to be had"?
3 - NancyGail
Matt. Look at your title a sec. You're talking about a female athlete, but HE's only fourteen? Other than that, nice work.
4 - Phillip Winn
NancyGail, what's her name?
5 - Matthew T. Sussman
Abbott: "And her name is?"
Costello: "He?"
Abbott: "No, the girl."
Costello: "He?"
Abbott: "No, the GIRL."
6 - Dr Dreadful
Just to confuse Bud and Lou (and Nancy) still further, it's pronounced "Her".
7 - Bennett
Yeah, but "Her's Only 14" sounds a bit trailer trashy.
8 - El Bicho
gadzooks, if you are going to use A&C, get it right. Costello would be asking and Abbott would be telling him.
9 - Matthew T. Sussman
No, see, Abbott was the baseball manager. Costello was the gymnastics coach. And if you don't believe that ... then Bud just sounded like a pudgier name.
10 - nicolas
actually, the contact sport analogy is a better one than you think. If these girls really aren't 16, then their bodies arent fully developed enough to handle a lot of the complicated, high impact moves and dismounts that they need to attempt to get medal-worthy scores.
Plus, the passport excuse is flimsy, since they were issued by the same govt who decided that the girl singing the opening ceremonies wasn't cute enough.
11 - yes
I don't get the whole age thing. Is the minimum age different for all the sports? It just seems weird they are making such a controversy over this when there's a 14 year old diver and nobody makes a big deal about that. So I thought the age minimum was lower but now it turns out the requirement in gymnastics is different... this is confusing
12 - Liuzhou
It's simple. Different events have different minimum ages. Gymnastics was set at 16 after younger competitors died.
13 - Eric Havaby
And it's not pronounced 'her' either
14 - El Bicho
"If these girls really aren't 16, then their bodies arent fully developed enough to handle a lot of the complicated, high impact moves and dismounts that they need to attempt to get medal-worthy scores."
The Chinese womens team have already proved this statement false
15 - Jordan Richardson
Gymnastics was set at 16 after younger competitors died.
Really?
16 - Tan The Man
Very stupid rule indeed...
17 - Dreggor Gade
As the timesonline.co.uk writes:
"Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she won her fist Olympic gold medal in 1976. Yet despite her stardom, there were criticisms that young girls were being pushed too hard at an age when their bodies and bones were still growing, causing permanent damage...
"There were also concerns about their mental health, because of the pressure of competing on the world stage at such a young age, and that they were vulnerable to exploitation and even physical abuse by coaches."
I think what people are concerned about is the fact that there are little children being mentally and physically abused, permanently damaged, for political purposes.
18 - Dreggor Gade
To rephrase:
A sixteen year old is generally accepted as cognizant of being able to make her own decisions about her lifestyle under proper adult supervision. A sixteen year old also has a skeletal system that is fully grown enough to begin to accept the rigors necessary for the discipline of Olympic-level gymnastic sport.
A thirteen year old's bones are permanently damaged under that sort of rigor. Her bones will grow into malformed shapes, resulting in a broken, painful body before the age of twenty.
Also, a child of that age is not old enough to make such important decisions about her body or lifestyle. Any adult who is making these decisions for her is by definition physically and mentally abusing the child. The adult ought to be put before a judge.
However, that's not how things really work in China's gymnastic sports system. The Chinese government takes children away from their families as young as the age of four and five for "sports school." Only a few lucky children get to see their families again about once or twice annually; most of them don't see their families. Don't forget that these are "one child families" in China. The children do not receive an actual formal education, just a sports education at these "sports schools." These children are used up before the end of their teenage years without any substantive education or preparation that will help them beyond the age of 18. At that point in life, with broken bodies, damaged mental states, and no education, what do you think these poor kids will be able to do with their lives?
Chinese gymnastics is decadent and depraved.
As for other countries, well, a lot of them have created internal laws against that sort of horrific abuse, the sort that would put parents, coaches, and government officials in prison.
19 - Steve Chan
Stopping children from competing makes no sense in terms of _protecting_ them. To be good in nearly any competitive field be it tennis, music or what ever children start early. Doesn't matter what country China or USA the guilty ones are the bad parents who push and burn out the ones that they should be nurturing. End of the day you can't really enforce good parenting with band aid rules like not allowed to compete until 16.