Suspicions mount over chinese gymnasts’ ages

If you’ve been following the Olympics, you’ve probably heard all the controversy over whether or not the girls on China’s gymnastics team are under the minimum age of 16.

NYT Article:

BEIJING — The teeny-tiny women on China’s Olympic gymnastics team will don their teeny-tiny leotards Sunday to perform big gymnastics in the women’s qualification at the Beijing Games.

Bela Karolyi, the former coach of gymnastics stars like Nadia Comaneci and Mary Lou Retton, said their size should raise a red flag.

The smallest of the six competitors is Deng Linlin, 4 feet 6 inches and 68 pounds. The team’s average size is 4-9 and 77 pounds. That is 3 ½ shorter and nearly 30 pounds lighter than the average for the United States team. Shawn Johnson, a favorite in the all-around, is the only American gymnast both shorter than 5 feet (4-9) and lighter than 100 pounds (90).

The ages of the Chinese gymnasts have been a topic of conversation for months, but it has reached a fever pitch here. To compete in Beijing, the gymnasts must turn 16 in this Olympic year.

…

Recent reports, including one by The New York Times, said that three of the six members of the Chinese team might be younger than the minimum age of 16. Several Chinese sports registries showed that He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Yang Yilin did not meet that age requirement.

Chinese authorities have produced passports to prove those gymnasts are old enough to compete. The international gymnastics federation, known as the F.I.G., issued a statement Saturday, saying the passports were proof that the Chinese were playing fair. International Olympic Committee officials agreed.

Article. NYT Photo

Those of you who have watched them compete, what do you think - do the girls look underage? Is China blatantly lying to the IOC? Some people have said it’s a pointless issue, and that the minimum age should be abolished altogether - do you think so?