Mounting evidence suggests Chinese gold medal-winning women gymnasts are underage
Facing mounting evidence that at least two of China’s medal-winning women gymnasts were underage, the IOC was forced into the awkward position Thursday of ordering a further probe into the ages of the gymnasts.
After initial dismissing the claims, the IOC said Thursday morning that there had been “additional elements on this subject.”
Emmanuelle Moreau, IOC’s Media Relations Manager in Beijing, said in an email to The Epoch Times that, “the IOC has therefore asked the International Gymnastics Federation to endeavour to find out more. We understand they are doing so immediately.”
The gymnasts in question—gold and bronze medalist Yang Yilin and double-gold winner He Kexin—are alleged to have competed in the Olympics while being under the legal age requirement of 16 years.
The Epoch Times was able to independently identify three official documents on websites run by China’s official sports governing body that list He Kexin’s birthdate as January 1, 1994, making her only 14. Two of the documents also list Yang Yilin as being 14.
The Epoch Times has also been able to find at least nine articles published in state-run Chinese media in the past 12 months that list He’s birth date as January 1 1994, not 1992 as the Chinese authorities now claim.
One article in the Shenghuo Bao (Life Daily), dated Nov. 5, 2007 refers to the then-13-year-old He Kexin. The Beijing Evening Post, Dec. 12, 2007 again states the girl’s age: “At just 13, this newcomer has not only completed the ‘Li Ya Flying Flip’ with ease, but performs in competitions with unusual stability for someone her age.”
Chinese officials have dismissed the widespread reports in their own state-run media on the gymnasts’ ages. When questioned last week, Zhang Hongliang—an official with China’s gymnastics delegation at the Games—said the reports were “a mistake” and that “never has any media outlet called me to check the athletes’ ages.”
Liu Peng, the director of the General Administration of Sports of China had also referred to He as thirteen last year.
“Thirteen-year-old uneven bars competitor He Kexin spectacularly completed the entire ‘Li Ya flying flip’ routine, defeating national champion Yang Yilin,” Liu said, according to a transcript of his speech at the Sixth National Sports Competition that was posted on the official website of the event.
Liu was previously deputy head of the Communist party’s propaganda department. In 2005 the Central Organization Committee of the Communist party appointed him as head of the Sports Administration.
The same holds for the state-run media reports that mentioned the athletes’ ages.
That evidence of He and Yang’s age appears to have been removed by Chinese censors suggests the Chinese authorities may have been complicit in faking the athletes’ ages. This calls into question whether the IOC can trust Chinese government-issued documents—including passports and birth certificates—which have been provided to the IOC as evidence.
According to a Huang Jianmin, a Chinese national who trained to work for the Chinese Foreign Service, such documents are easily forged when it serves the interests of the ruling Communist Party.
“It’s not a problem. It’s definitely not a problem,” says Huang of forging such documents. “Everything is under the Party’s control. They do whatever they want. Everything is designed to serve the state propaganda so if the state requires someone to be younger than their actual age, it’s no problem, they can be younger.”
“You’re pretty naïve in the West,” Huang added, commenting on Westerners’ surprise that official documentation could be faked.
Age controversies are not new to the world of gymnastics. North Korea was barred from the 1993 world championships after the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) discovered the country’s 1991 gold medalist was listed as being 15 three years in a row. Romania said in 2002 that several gymnasts' ages had been falsified, including those of two Olympic medalists.
And in 2004, Chinese Olympic gymnast Yang Yun told state-run Chinese television she had competed in the Sydney Games when she was only 14, though official documents showed her as meeting the age requirements.
"I was only 14 at that time,” Yang told China Central Television in a clip found on the Vodpod video sharing website. “So I thought that even though I fell this time, I could do better next time. I would have other chances."