According to a Yahoo! Sports blog, the IOC is going to open an official investigation to discover the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin. This is also confirmed in an article on Times Online.
The announcement is a really long time coming and it shouldn’t surprise anybody that He is underage. This comes after a report that He is listed in Chinese documents as being just 14 years old.
I understand the IOC doesn’t want to be the one ruining China’s “coming out party,” but the party was already ruined with the ruthless speculation that came with the Chinese women’s team gymnastics performance.
Even if the Chinese women are confirmed to be under-age (and it’s all been confirmed already), I don’t know what action the IOC can take. I’m sure they can wag their finger at China, but it seems there's not much more for them to do.
Since the Chinese government has access to everything, even private documents (including birth certificates), I’m not sure how much difference it will make should the gymnasts be under-age.
An international spectacle, a national embarrassment, yes. China might even get stripped of its women’s gymnastics medals. But who knows what the future will hold for the Chinese young (make that very young) women?
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