TBO.com - TBO is Tampa Bay Online

Age Questions Persist For Gymnasts

ADVERTISEMENT

The Associated Press

Published: August 23, 2008

Updated: 08/23/2008 12:23 am

BEIJING - The parents of the Chinese gymnasts are indignant, the International Olympic Committee sounds satisfied and the Beijing Olympic Games are almost over.

Yet questions persisted Friday about the ages of China's gold-medal women's gymnastics team.

Are they 14? Are they 16?

Hoping to put a definitive end to a simmering controversy, China was asked to provide additional documents that prove five of the six team members were old enough to compete at these games. The request, by the International Gymnastics Federation, was made at the urging of the IOC, despite China's insistence that its athletes were not underage and the fact that there is no proof to the contrary.

Still, the questions haven't abated, and so the Chinese federation was asked one more time to prove the girls were eligible.

"It's not a question of a final decision," IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said. "We simply want the federation to work with the national federation ... to just put to bed once and for all the questions."

The federation asked China for documents on He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan, and said it will forward all information to the IOC. The organization didn't set a deadline, but with the games ending Sunday, the IOC wants to dispel any lingering doubts as quickly as possible.

Questions about the Chinese women have been swirling for months, with media reports and online records suggesting that He, Yang and Jiang might be as young as 14. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to be eligible.

Four of China's six medals could be affected if evidence of cheating is found. In addition to the team gold, He won the gold medal on uneven bars and Yang won bronzes on bars and the all-around.

"It is in the interests of all concerned, not least the athletes themselves, to resolve this issue once and for all," the federation said in a statement.

That's all anyone wants, said Jim Scherr, chief executive of the U.S. Olympic Committee, which sent a letter to the IOC and federation on Friday asking that they take one last look.

"We certainly believe that it's important for the IOC and the international federation to review the issue and hopefully lay it to rest," Scherr said.

The IOC, however, sounded as if it did not expect anything to be found.

Share this:

Loading Comments...

Email Print

ADVERTISEMENT