We ID Anyone Appearing to Be Under 21

Just nine months before the Beijing Olympic Games, the Chinese government’s news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13. At the age of 13, He would have been ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report on November 3, 2007, Xinhua identified He as one of “10 big new stars” who made a splash at China’s Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games.

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China’s first women’s team Olympic gold in gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday’s uneven bars final.

Yang was also on Wednesday’s winning team. Questions have also been raised about her age and that of a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan.

Gymnasts have to be 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible for the games. He’s birthday is listed as January 1, 1992.

Chinese authorities insist that all three are old enough to compete. He herself told reporters after Wednesday's final that “my real age is 16. I don’t pay any attention to what everyone says.”

Zhang Hongliang, an official with China’s gymnastics delegation at the games, said Thursday the differing ages which have appeared in Chinese media reports had not been checked in advance with the gymnastics federation.

Asked whether the federation had changed their ages to make them eligible, Zhang said: “We are a sports department. How would we have the ability to do that?”

Well, Zhang, that brings up a couple of interesting questions for me.

First, how would you have the ability to do that? Let me ask you this: How would you have the capability to use computer generated fireworks to make the opening ceremonies look even better? Oh, and play it off as “real” fireworks until caught red-handed, yes, pun intended.

Secondly, how would you have the ability to do that? Let me ask you this: How would you have the capability or nerve to not allow a seven-year-old child not to sing on national TV simply because it wasn’t in your nation’s best interest? All because she wasn’t pretty enough? Red-handed again.

Now, a third issue comes up, this time for all the other nations completing in the gymnastic competition. Let’s say the girls are too young—they sure look 10-12 years old—how in the world were you beaten by such young children?

In my opinion, if they are too young, they should be disqualified from the competition, their medals returned, and China should face some kind of sanctions for future meets. However, come on. Letting children beat you?

One Chinese official, when asked about the gymnastics being too young, used this as his defense: well, how can you go by looks and say our athletics are too young. If you use that same standard, and apply that to the Americans and others, then you might have to say they look older because of the growth hormones they are on!”

What a great defense there! Ours may be too young, but yours are on drugs!

Not sure I would have expected anything less from the Chinese government! Sounds like they are caught red-handed again.