The uber-awesome Michael K at DListed points to a blind item run on Rush and Malloy, implicating two Olympians are bitter-rivals with one doing something nasty to the other. Michael implies it’s gymnastic champs Nastia Liukin and teammate Shawn Johnson. I say NO WAY. Here’s the blind item:

Which two perky Olympian teammates are really bitter rivals? One spiked the other’s protein shake with laxatives before a big competition, but her plan backfired when her nemesis not only powered through the competition but beat her so-called friend anyway.

In all fairness, we don’t even know what sport they are referring to or even what team, it could be those cheating Chinese gymnasts for all we know, but I highly doubt it’s Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin.

First of all, Nastia isn’t what you would call “perky”. Brooding, focused and serious, yes, but perky? Hell no. I watched virtually all of the coverage of the Olympic Gymnastic competition and Nastia is a no-nonsense kind of person, and her father Valeri Liukin, a former Russian Olympic gymnastic champion himself, would deeply frown on any kind of shenanigans of this nature.

While it’s true, the two girls, Nastia and Shawn stayed together during the Olympic competition, I doubt they are “bitter rivals.” Gymnastics is notorious for high drama, and we absolutely would have heard something by now if there were any issues related to these two young women. In a wonderful NYT article about the two gymnasts, the writer points out the obvious:

The two friends are now setting out on their post-Olympic adventures. The question is which one will capitalize the most on her Olympic success?

Johnson’s agent, Sheryl Shade, contended that there were no worries about one of them stealing sponsors from the other. She said that Liukin, 18, and Johnson, 16, appealed to different demographics. Liukin has the elegance of a ballerina. Johnson is perky.

In truth, they both performed admirably, despite having to deal with a blatant and unrepentant Chinese team of cheaters. If we removed the underage gymnasts from the Chinese team, Nastia would be up at least one gold medal, and in all fairness, the U.S. Women’s team would likely have won the team gold.

That said, I wouldn’t put this kind of thing past another U.S. gymnast, Alicia Sacramone – she’s both perky and has a ‘tude. Just kidding Alicia. Well, sort of. Please don’t punch me.

HERO

All the shallow people in the world who are making nasty comments about Michael Phelps’ appearance exemplify why the world is going to hell in a hand-basket. Michael has brought joy and pride to the United States representing us in the 2008 Olympic games, he has accomplished feats we can only dream about, he loves his mom, he’s gives back to his community and has a work-ethic we should all strive for, yet all I keep reading about in the rags is how “unattractive” he is.

GROW UP people, not everything is life is about looks. Not all things center around people’s appearance. Not to mention the fact that I think Michael is perfectly handsome, but I tend to value what comes from the inside more than the outside, so I don’t expect everyone to have the same aesthetic viewpoint I have.

As for the Amanda Beard/Michael Phelps dating story, he’s WAY TOO GOOD for any athlete who cheapens her talents by posing for Playboy. Why not let the sluts with self-esteem issues do spreads, and the athletes set good examples for our youth? Yeah I am talking to you AMANDA. I am not sure what’s more disgusting, the despicable way you spoke about a teammate, or or your tasteless visage plastered all over the web?

When asked about whether she’s dating the world’s greatest Olympian, did Amanda really need to respond with “Ewww, gross,” or “I have better taste than that?” All I can say is her taste is all in her mouth. And most likely, that’s not all she puts in there.

If I ain’t being too blunt.

HORE! (same letters with a little rearrangement)

The above video from MSNBC gives us some more insight into the age controversy surrounding the Chinese Women’s Gymnastic team, which as of this posting, seems to be picking up some steam as more documents surface pointing to shady actions on the part of the Chinese.

While it might seem petty to complain about these “minor” details after the fact, I stand by my original assertion that it’s not about the number of medals any team gets or doesn’t get, but about overall fairness and ultimately, the integrity of the Olympics. As k so eloquently explained in the previous post, there is a major advantage to being younger and smaller when it comes to competing in a sport as difficult and dynamic as gymnastics.

I have zero complaints with how our own U.S. Women’s Gymnastic team performed and medaled, they did a tremendous job and really made their country proud. But then, they played fair, didn’t cheat and showed an amazing amount of grace despite knowing all along they were competing against cheaters, albeit very talented and cute, but cheaters none the less.

Who knows how this will all pan out in the end, but after watching Nastia Luikin lose gold in the uneven bars to China’s He Kexin, who may very well be too young to compete, it begs the question as to what’s right, what’s fair, and what do we do to fix what’s clearly been broken in the system.

As the old adage goes, winners never cheat, and cheaters never win — except, apparently, in Beijing.

If you’ve been watching the Beijing Olympics, by now you are well aware of the controversy surrounding the women’s Chinese gymnastic team and the alleged use of underage athletes. According to Olympic rules, a participant must turn 16 within the same year as the Olympics, so they can still be 15 at the time of competition — but even this does not explain the inexplicably young looking women/girl Chinese gymnasts, some of whom are missing baby teeth.

Bela Karolyi, the most famous gymnastic coach in the world has made it clear in color commentary and interviews that the Chinese women’s team had girls who were well under the age limit but there was nothing that could be done about it. China issues the passports for its athletes and clearly, being a fascist state has its privileges.

The question for me isn’t that these girls shouldn’t be participating, because clearly, they are stellar athletes. The real issue is that the Chinese are breaking the rules and as the host country, their flagrant disregard of the rules compromises the overall integrity of the entire competitive spirit of the Olympics. But again, without proof, it’s all just hearsay and conjecture, and few will have the temerity to make an issue of proving these girls are underage.

Dominique Dawes, who won bronze in Barcelona and Atlanta, may be better known for her infectious smile and composure than her Olympic performances. That said, Dominique (seen in the above video) does the familiar dance of saying the Chinese cheated (they won the gold in the overall team competition) without saying they cheated. She should win a gold medal in diplomacy.

The age controversy is just the tip of the iceberg of failure by the Chinese government in relations to the Olympics. Far worse than the the Chinese cheating by entering underage girls into competition, is the nation’s history of FORCING athletes to participate in the Olympics against their will. And China knows as a country, it values nationalistic pride over individual rights:

Being little is a big advantage in women’s gymnastics, where controversies over undersized waifs and child abuse forced a change in the minimum-age rules. But being Chinese is an advantage these days too. “The Chinese race knows how to endure hardship,” one Chinese gymnastics coach told Time magazine in 2004. “Our job is to push these kids to their limits, so they can perform gloriously for our nation.”

Unlike the voluntary sacrifices other nation’s athletes make in order to participate at the highest level of competition, there is something so deeply and inherently wrong in making these young people force their bodies to contort, bend and develop in ways against nature without their consent from the age of THREE.

The Beijing Olympics have been executed beautifully, and the spectacle of it all is tremendous, but this human rights violation AGAINST CHILDREN, is above all a stain on all of humanity.

Though many will argue that the children’s participation is a windfall for the entire family, many of whom come from abject poverty, the overall dullness of joy in their faces, compared to the young athletes who are there because they WANT to be there, is evident to me.

Depriving people of their free will not only diminish the competitive spirit of the Olympics, but also the human spirit. China still has a long way to go before they can feel genuine pride in competing in the one race that really matters; the human race.