For those watching the Olympic Gymnastics:

[bicentennial_baby]

Do you think all of the Chinese team are 16 years old and up?

Rumor is that at least 4 of them aren't, and that they may be as young as 12-13. The IOC says that their passports say they're 16, so that's enough for them.

Hmmmm. Some of these girls are really, really tiny. I wonder.

[johnnie]

1. That first one looked like she was 10

But that last one was 20 so maybe they just look really really young.

Then again, I am in my 40s so they all look like little kids to me. Long way since Mary Lou.

[bicentennial_baby]

2. The last one is actually 20,

or close to that. She's a repeat contender. It's the new ones. I don't think they're 16. No way. Children.

[XemaSab]

3. They've been children for years

There was a book out a few years ago called "Little Girls in Tiny Boxes" about anorexia in gymnastics and ice skating.

A factoid from the book:

"In 1956 the top two Olympic female gymnasts were thirty-five and twenty-one years old. In 1968, gold medalist Vera Caslavska of Czechoslovakia was twenty-six years old, stood 5 feet 3 inches, and weighed 121 pounds.... later, Nadia Comaneci clutched a baby doll after scoring the first perfect 10 in Olympic history. She was 5 feet tall and weighed 85 pounds. The decline in age and size among American gymnasts since Comanici’s victory is startling...by the ‘92 Olympics in Barcelona, the average U.S. Olympic gymnast was 16 years old, stood 4 feet 9 inches, and weighed 83 pounds."

[bicentennial_baby]

5. I know that, I'm just wondering about the actual age controversy

I've been watching gymnastics since I can remember.

I just think it's interesting that the PRC may be faking their papers to get in.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

6. The first time I remember seeing Olympic gymnastics was 1972

when Olga Korbut was competing. She was 17, and her teammates were in their early twenties.

Cathy Rigby, the star of the U.S. team, was 18.

None of them looked as if they hadn't gone through puberty yet.

[XemaSab]

13. Apparently the anorexia delays puberty

:scared:

[XemaSab]

15. Maybe they should have a BMI for gymnasts?

:shrug:

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. I must say, though, that this year's team looks less emaciate than in previous years

:shrug:

But it wouldn't be a bad idea.

It was ridiculous in the 1990s. In Little Girls in Boxes it told about how during the 1992 Barcelona Olympics the girls were required to stay in their rooms whenever they weren't competing or practicing, because the coaches were afraid that they'd EAT. They weren't even allowed to go out and see the city.

The guys, who were under no such restrictions, felt sorry for them and used to sneak food to them.

[DarkTirade]

4. Most gymnasts look a lot younger than they are.

[likesmountains 52]

7. It just started in my time zone, and I have to agree..most of them look about 12..

it's not just that they're tiny...it's their faces. Sorry, they do not look 16.

[bicentennial_baby]

8. That's what I'm saying...

I've been watching Olympic Gymnastics since I was practically aware, and...these girls are young. No way are they 16. You can see it physically and emotionally. Children, and the PRC is cheating the system. Ugh.

[AlCzervik]

9. Some look about 13 and a few them look like they could be 9 or 10.

[femmocrat]

10. Is a passport the only proof of age they use?

Maybe they should require birth certificates? But I guess any document could be fake. It's really unfair if they are using underaged gymnasts.

[npk]

11. I wouldn't believe a damn thing a spokesman from China

told me. They could tell me the sky is blue and I wouldn't trust them.

[Midlodemocrat]

12. I don't know. I know the gymnasts here are really tiny.

And, I mean the ones who got serious $$$$ from some pretty big Universities to compete for them.

[bicentennial_baby]

14. The US team now is older than the in old days...

17-20 or so...I've been a fan since I was cognizant of the Olympics, and I remember the teeny girls of the 80s and 90s.

Oddly, my favorite ever is Svetlana Khorkina, who retired at 20-something after 2004.

But these Chinese gymnasts. I'd bet that at least a few of them are 12-14. If so, that's messed up.

[MillieJo]

16. The Khorkina affect is that many more gymnasts are competing

in there 20's and are taller and are bustier and curvier than the swimmers of the same age.
The Chinese are small girls but so is Shawn Johnson.
I have my doubt on some of the the North Korean and Chinese gymnasts but it used to be common in the Soviet
days to lie about the age of gymnasts. Daniela Silvas, Elena Shushanova, Olga Bicherova for example.

[Shell Beau]

17. I just can't believe that some of those girls are 16.

Their faces look like little babies. I know that most of today's gymnasts are tiny, but this isn't just about being tiny. I don't think many of them are of age.

[DS1]

18. That's what I love about gymnasts

I keep getting older, and they keep getting bendier.

[supernova]

20. Dirty old man

:P

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

21. I've known 16 year old Chinese girls that small.

Seems to me everybody wants to whine about the Chinese, and they're looking for lame excuses.

[Shell Beau]

22. I don't see it that way. At least not in this case.

Plus the last Olympic bronze medalist (Chinese) in gymnastics is claiming that she wasn't of age when she won her medal either. It is cheating.