The 2008 Summer Olympics : Beijing, China

[lakomka]

The Russian girl who beat the world record in pole vault was so cute, she was so excited

Yes Elena Isimbaeva is such a cute And gosh, I'm so proud of her She is really amazing!

 

[eternitygoddess]

^she's also quite snarky.

It should be about the athletes skills than about their age.

I think that there might be a problem with forcing young children to over-exert their bodies at too early an age, which might be the reason among others for regulations.

 

[chasing_tides]

^How do they know she is 12? I thought there were rumors of her being 14/15.

They don't, its just gymnastics rumor. Gossip is always more interesting, when its gossip about your competitors.

Either way, the age requirement is only there to protect young kids from having stunted growth. It has nothing to do with advantages. In fact, you get less years of training and experience, compared to older athletes.

All this stuff about being lighter, and being more reckless(ie. brave) when doing stunts are just characteristics of anyone who's younger. That's just generalizing though. I'm sure there's just as many young girls out there who are capable of dealing with pressure as there are girls who just can't.

 

[Kaki]

All this stuff about being lighter, and being more reckless(ie. brave) when doing stunts are just characteristics of anyone who's younger. That's just generalizing though. I'm sure there's just as many young girls out there who are capable of dealing with pressure as there are girls who just can't.

^ I'm not sure about being more reckless, but younger gymnasts are generally much more flexible because they have not passed that pre-pubescent period of growth where most people lose their flexibility. The older one is, the harder it is for them to perform, which is why most gymnasts aren't older than 19 or 20. I wouldn't necessarily say that their young age helped Chinese gymnasts win the team medal, since there's no way to prove it - however, I think it's a valid point that younger gymnasts are more capable gymnasts.

I loved Bela's commentary! He's hilarious.

 

[Faith Akiyama]

^she's also quite snarky.



I think that there might be a problem with forcing young children to over-exert their bodies at too early an age, which might be the reason among others for regulations.

For me this is somewhat of a flawed argument (It's not just you, many who support the rule use it) because the training regimen is very similar no matter when you prepare to enter the international circuit. It's more about amplifying specific talents efficiently than worrying about physical consequences. Basically, the rule fails to actually protect anyone despite that being the purpose

Bela is certainly entertaining and boisterous, but I hope he realizes that NBC is completely using him to cause further controversy and attract public attention. With Bob Costas leading him on with questions that would no doubt drive him into tirades like how it has been happening...even if the network gets in trouble it would be too easy for them to just say, "Oh it was just Bela's opinion. We have nothing to do with it " He really toned it down tonight, though -- choosing to only blame the system's supposed "incompetence" (Did him and Marta notice how the Bulgarian judge scored the reverse of the Australian judge? Oy...). I wonder if someone said something to him.

 

[*Bianca*]

They don't, its just gymnastics rumor. Gossip is always more interesting, when its gossip about your competitors.

Well it's rumor based on documents and past mentions of their ages. From various articles:

A national registry of gymnasts, which had been blocked online but was viewable through Google cache, listed He’s birthday as Jan. 1, 1994. That date was also listed for her on a registration for an intercity competition in Chengdu, China.

In a speech on Nov. 3, 2007, in the central city of Wuhan, Liu Peng, director of general administration of sport for China, said: "The 13-year-old uneven-bar gymnast He Kexin, who defeated national team athlete Yang Yilin — she just won the bronze medal in the world championships — has demonstrated her ability."

To be eligible for the Cities Games where Liu made his remarks, Chinese documents show athletes must be over 13, but under 15.

Jiang was born on Oct. 1, 1993 and is not yet 15, according to a listing of junior competitors from the Zhejiang Province sports administration. The list of athletes included national identification card numbers into which birth dates are embedded.

Yang Yilin, a top contender for gold in the all-around and the uneven bars, could be 14 instead of the minimum age of 16, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

Registration lists from 2003 to 2006, previously posted on the Web site of the General Administration of Sport of China, said Yang was born on Aug. 26, 1993, which means she will turn 15 later this month. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the year of the Olympics to be eligible to compete in the Games.

On the 2007 registration list, Yang's birthday changed to Aug. 26, 1992, suddenly making her old enough for the Olympics, The A.P. said.

 

[Belowen]

WOW @ the russian women's synchronised swimming

 

[Faith Akiyama]

^ I'll have to catch that online later.

 

[Verene]

^she's also quite snarky.

If I had broken the world record for 24 times I would be the biggest @$$ on earth.

Super Isinbaeva!

 

[chasing_tides]

Well it's rumor based on documents and past mentions of their ages. From various articles:

Hmm, it does sound like there might be something there. My question is, if all of these articles have been substantiated for validity, why haven't they just pulled these girls from the competition?

I mean, if we can find this stuff for ourselves from Google cached pages, I think the Olympic committee in charge of this kind of thing has probably been through it as well.

It is the Olympics afterall, you'd think with their ridiculous budget, and the thousands of people involved in coordinating these games, they'd have done something about it.

And just for the record, I'm Canadian, and as much as I smell something fishy going on with the Chinese, I smell the same foul odor with some of the American media.

At the end of the day, I'd love for people to just congratulate the winners even if they haven't won.... just a lil of that 'old fashioned good sportsmanship.

 

[lakomka]

I am so glad for Shawn "always second" Johnson Finally GOLD! Well done, girl!

Feeling so sorry for Anna Pavlova

 

[Belowen]

I was happy that she finally won gold too

 

[*Bianca*]

Well done Shawn!

 

[Ziegfeld Girl]

So happy that Shawn got her gold!

 

[CharmingNicky]

Yes Elena Isimbaeva is such a cute And gosh, I'm so proud of her She is really amazing!

She is fantastic!! This was third world record I have seen her do this summer, thats crazy!!!

 

[kezme44]

one of the chinese performers during the opening ceremony apparantly fell 10 feet and will most likely end up being paralyzed

 

[Faith Akiyama]

^ Tragic news.

I must echo the excitement for Shawn - at last!

 

[smartarse]

^ Shawn finally got a gold?


SPOTTED:
a potential model for one of Italy's Volleyball player

ETA:
it figures it was Francesca Piccinini ... lol @ me

 

[bee]

wow, shawn really did it! good for her
but anna pavlova... i wish she could've won a medal.

 

[Verene]

An article about the REAL medal count... (Damn I wish there's a smilie for flipping the bird)