One of the reasons Americans are upset about this is because we were the ones in the running during the competition. But, if other countries would like to jump on the bandwagon, we’d make room…after all, it might be Russia or Japan or some other country it happens to next Olympics.

Let’s reverse it…what if it were the USA who was being accused of cheating (with some pretty damning evidence) and China were the ones being cheated? Do you really think China would just roll over and let it go? Can you imagine the uproar?

You’ll notice that we aren’t asking for the relays to be rerun in which we dropped the baton. That would be unfair to the other competitors who won fair and square. We don’t have a problem losing if we lose according to the rules. But when we lose because of blatant cheating by another team, which is backed by an entire country (after all, the Chinese government runs the athletics in that country)…well, yeah, we do have a problem. And if people can’t see that, it’s their problem.

“it only goes to prove further what a remarkable athlete He Kexin is. The fact remains – she was the BEST gymnast in the world at the Beijing games, regardless of her age. Pure talent should always come before bureaucracy.”

how do we know there isn’t another 14-year old gymnast from another country who’s better, but wasn’t allowed to compete because of her age?

Reports can have errors too. Like i read in a Reuters article that the Chinese Gymnastics team failed to medal in the Olympics because they weren’t good enough. Hmm since its published online, should i take it for real then?

You don’t know my Country of origin anymore than I know yours scooter.

I’ll make a deal with you:

“what’s so unfair about a child competing alongside experienced adult thletes? steriods are unfair this is not.” Comment by Melissa

YOU work on proper sentence structure such as CAPITALIZATION and SPELLING, maybe then I’ll work on the capital letters.

what’s = What’s
thletes = Athletes
steriods = Steroids

IT REALLY IS QUITE ANNOYING.

So the Olympic committee should allow a GOVERNMENT-BACKED COVER UP, by the HOST COUNTRY, no less, slide because an ILLEGALLY ENTERED ATHLETE did well?

That’s another thing you seem to be overlooking; the Chinese government FORGED DOCUMENTS stating He Kexin was sixteen, when she is, in fact, fourteen. That they did this goes beyond wrong; it flouts the rules put in place in the name of fairness and DEGRADES the Olympics. The fact that the government lied about her age is the LEAST of this. The Chinese government knowingly and willfully BROKE THE RULES to gain an edge and for the sake of, as stated before ‘nationalistic pride’. How, pray tell, is this acceptable? It’s NOT. That sort of behavior on part of the host country is DEPLORABLE.

And Melissa? I’m pretty sure it’s more than ‘righteous Americans’ who are upset (of which you seem not to be). It wouldn’t surprise me that other countries would be raising Hell about this flagrant disregard for the rules, too.

And really, even IF the rules about age are changed to lower it (which I DOUBT will ever happen), it will not change the fact that the age rule was broken WHILE IN EFFECT.

The whole reason for age limits in gymnastics is that smaller performers are inherently capable of more difficult flips, flexes, and flimflamadoos than larger ones; their centre of mass is less far from the physical centre of their bodies, allowing them to achieve a higher rate of rotation in gymnastic manoeuvres.

They raised the age limit from 14 to 16 for two reasons…the stress put on a child’s body to compete at an Olympic level, and the stress put on a child’s psyche to compete at an Olympic level. They were trying to lessen the stresses to both. Also, the new scoring system allows higher points to more difficult routines, and it is thought that older athletes can better cope with the physical demands, not to mention the mental demands. Although, I am of the opinion that even 16 is too young and the competitors, regardless of sport, should be 18 or older…but that’s my opinion only and isn’t really important to this story.

So once again, I reiterate: RULES are RULES. Whether you agree with them or not, one must FOLLOW THE RULES if one WANTS TO COMPETE. Period. Why is that so hard for people to get? Whether or not He was better or not than any gymnast on the floor is not the point. If she was so great, why couldn’t she have waited four years and blew us all away with her mad skillz, legally?

And CAPITALS are sometimes necessary to emphasize a point. As a writer here, I can also use italics or bold (and so can anyone else with a basic knowledge of HTML), but sometimes I don’t feel like putting forth the extra effort for people who don’t pay attention anyway. If the capital letters are too loud for you, try covering your eyes with your hands.

Well, obviously the rules should be revised allowing the entry age at 14.

When I watch The Olympics I want to see the best athletes in their respective fields. Watching He Kexin at Beijing this year was sublime – her performance was something else.

Oh, and can all you righteous Americans stop talking to me in capitals just so you can make a point? It REALLY IS QUITE ANNOYING.

1. This site has explained the advantages of younger Gymnast’s, in case you missed it, there was this gem at the bottom of THIS CURRENT post, before you clicked on comments:

“You can follow GlossLip’s continuing coverage of this story here.” <– the here is red as in a link.

2. I’ll state briefly, The issue is contentious because younger gymnasts have training advantages.

They have what is known in the sport as a higher strength-to-weight ratio, meaning they can move more freely on the various apparatus and spend many more hours training.

The age limit was introduced after Nadia Comanechi’s astonishing performances in 1976, when, as a 14-year-old, she became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 for a routine.

3. Really, nothing else matters other than RULES ARE THERE FOR A REASON AND MUST BE FOLLOWED. If you couldnt get it from this entire post by K, I give.