Beijing Olympics 2008

[Escriba]

It's impossible to prove and it is not the first time it happens (and not only with China; I know Spanish football teams that take a, let's say, 16 old foreign boy and say he has 14 to make him play in that cathegory and win the competition).

But anyway, her line: "[...]they don't know the stress, they don't know what the pressure is to succeed, they just go out there and have fun, they don't really get it yet" is revealing of what she thinks sport is. I mean, supposedly you go to have fun, not to win. Are you saying that making a 16 years old girl a hipercompetitive witch is good, darling?

[Elessar]

It's impossible to prove and it is not the first time it happens (and not only with China; I know Spanish football teams that take a, let's say, 16 old foreign boy and say he has 14 to make him play in that cathegory and win the competition).

But anyway, her line: "[...]they don't know the stress, they don't know what the pressure is to succeed, they just go out there and have fun, they don't really get it yet" is revealing of what she thinks sport is. I mean, supposedly you go to have fun, not to win. Are you saying that making a 16 years old girl a hipercompetitive witch is good, darling?

It's a guy, lol. But, I mean, he's been a gymnastics coach for like 30 years. I don't think he was talking about whether it's GOOD for a 16 yr old girl to be nuts about the pressure, I think he was saying that the older you are and the more experienced you are, the more you will, just as a natural byproduct. I guess you could say his perspective sounded like he thought that becoming nervous and feeling the pressure was a natural thing that was independent of whether you go out there to have fun or be hypercompetitive. I'm sure that he thinks a girl can go out there being competitive but having fun also... as long as she doesn't let the pressure get to her.

[leslina]

Honestly, grown women out there with daughters. When you look at some of those Chinese gymnasts, AT THEIR TEETH (hello, they haven't gotten their new teeth yet!), and at their bodies, their little pre-pubescent boyish bodies, I don't understand how they could ever be considered over 16. I know that gymnasts and athletes mature slower, that young girls get to menstruation later when they work out and exercise the way they do obsessively, but you look at Shawn Johnson and her hips and her legs and her bust (small as it is, but not nonexistent), and THAT is a 16 yr old's body.

Lookin at those chinese gymnasts and I'm not even convinced by the "14 or 15" suggestion.

Those girls ARE under age, and this ISN'T news as Bella said. However, this has been practice not only in China, but in the former Eastern Bloc (former Soviet) countries as well. I remember the controversy at the '92 Barcelona Olympics with one of the Ukrainian girls from the then Unified Team (as the countries weren't yet represented independently) who was removed from competition at the last minute by the Russian coach and replaced with a VERY young (she was reportedly 14) Svetlana Korkina. The Ukrainian girl was vindicated at the next Olympics, however, as she snatched the individual all-around gold medal from Svetlana, but for all his gregariousness and talk, Bella knows what he's talking about. He worked and coached the Romanian national team during the Communist Reign before he defected to the United States. It's a shame that not more is done at the international level about this blatant breaking of the rules.

[Eian Flannagan]

Then Bella comes on with Bob Costas and is saying that one ofthe reasons some of the AMerican girls might have faltered (Sacramone, specifically) is that the older you get and the more of a veteran you are,the more you understand what's on the line, so this is actually a situation where ignorance is bliss as far as a young chinese gymnast not really understanding what's going on here, not really understanding what's at stake. Whereas the 20, 21 yr old gymnasts really do understand it so that weighs on them more, hence more stress, hence more screwups if they can't take the pressure.

However, by the same token, could it not be said that because you are older, more experienced and mature, you should be better equipped to handle said pressure and stress? As one of the oldest competitors in the field, Sacramone (who is 20 years old) should have been able to withstand such pressure. I have no problem with a gymnast having a bad day---sucks that hers was on such a big night---but I'm not willing to blame it on the fact that she's too mature. That's kind of like demanding a grown man live on skim milk because the baby can't eat steak. I'm fairly certain that Béla Károlyi was just caught up in the drama of the moment with those comments.

The age-thing, however.......yeah, I personally agree totally with that one. Those Chinese girls all look like cute little 10, 11 year olds.

Eian

btw: The exact quote I paraphrased is by Robert A. Heinlein, actually commenting on censorship:
"The whole principle is wrong; it's like demanding that grown men live on skim milk because the baby can't eat steak."

[Escriba]

It's a guy, lol.

Well, with a name like Bella...

It's a shame that not more is done at the international level about this blatant breaking of the rules.

They aren't going to do a thing because that's like throwing stones into glass house. It's true that this is more common and blatant in (comunist) dictatorship (in any kind of dictatorship, in fact, because it's easier to lie), but it isn't the only case. There are a lot, A LOT of countries that lie about the age of foreigners sportmen or women they recruit (either because it's required they are older or younger).

You know, if somebody begin to stir things up the others can reply with other accusations about any other thing and war is served.

PS: good quote, Eian.

[Escriba]

Federer has lost! I can't believe it!

[leslina]

Federer has lost! I can't believe it!

Interesting. The commentators did say that the other players are not as intimidated by him anymore and that he appears more vulnerable to them.

[Escriba]

Yeah, probably he's right. Federer looks in bad shape, but he's still Federer.

By the way, has anybody seen the Hungarian Baranyai in Halterofilia who has broken his elbow? OUCH! Here is a video (very poor quality): http://es.youtube.com/watch?v=kzio1ba3Vbk (I hope this one is playable).

[thecursor]

If I Phelps raced a dolphin, a great white, and Aquaman and someone asked me to put money on one of them, I'd ask them if Phelps was blindfolded.

Then I'd still bet on Phelps.

[leslina]

If I Phelps raced a dolphin, a great white, and Aquaman and someone asked me to put money on one of them, I'd ask them if Phelps was blindfolded.

Then I'd still bet on Phelps.

He is inspiring.

[Eian Flannagan]

If I Phelps raced a dolphin, a great white, and Aquaman and someone asked me to put money on one of them, I'd ask them if Phelps was blindfolded.

Then I'd still bet on Phelps.

He is inspiring.

Anybody besides me think that with that weird look he had going on a couple weeks ago---the one with the goofy mustache---he'd make a great Star Trek character? If it weren't for the fact that he's always smiling, that mustache belongs in a Mirror Universe on one of the series...

And, yeah. The guy is an amazing athlete.

Eian

[Asso]

Anybody besides me think that with that weird look he had going on a couple weeks ago---the one with the goofy mustache---he'd make a great Star Trek character? If it weren't for the fact that he's always smiling, that mustache belongs in a Mirror Universe on one of the series...

Eh Eh... You're right!

[leslina]

Here's a poorly written article on the whole underage Chinese Gymnasts issue.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/olympic ... e.Chinese/

[Eian Flannagan]

Here's a poorly written article on the whole underage Chinese Gymnasts issue.

http://www.comcast.net/articles/olympic ... e.Chinese/

It is certainly suspicious. IMHO, however, the age of the Chinese gymnasts doesn't actually matter. I understand it is an IOC rule. I don't necessarily agree with it. The long and short of it is...the current Chinese gymnastics team is better than the US gymnastics team. Individually, Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin can compete head-to-head with the Chinese, but team to team, the Chinese are superior.

So if, in a utopian world, it were proven the Chinese girls were 12-14 years old, what happens? Does the IOC strip their medals? Then what? The US gets gold this year and is absolutely crushed and dominated in London in 2012?

I sit on my couch and root loudly for the US, scream at the television, grumble about judging, etc. I am a true fan of the Olympics. I love just about everything about them...

...and the Chinese were better. I applaud their success.

But I'm sure going to be rooting hard for Shawn and Nastia tonight!!!

Eian

[Escriba]

You also have to consider that the Chinese team plays at home. This makes a lot. It's a morale boost.

Oh-hoo... US has thrashed Greece in basket. Revenge is sweet, I suppose