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The International Gymnastics Federation’s investigation into the alleged age falsification of Chinese gymnasts at the 2008 Beijing Games came to a close today. (AP article) However, their ruling was far from surprising. All five Chinese gymnasts involved in the investigation have been cleared of allegations and, at least according to the FIG, were of eligible age to compete. I still have my doubts, which are based in multiple official government documents I’ve seen myself. But I suppose those doubts will never go away. That is, unless the FIG would truly like to clear this up once and for all and provide their supposedly conclusive evidence for the world to see. I would certainly applaud such transparency, as it would do a great deal to attempt to restore the now tarnished image of gymnastics and the FIG the world over. |
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There are, however, two bits of good news to be found in this announcement. First and foremost, the FIG is continuing their investigation into two gymnasts from the Chinese team that competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games. One of those two being investigated is our own Yang Yun. The article even sites our video as one of the major contributing factors to the investigation continuing, although – of course – they don’t bother to send a professional hat-tip in our direction. This development is highly encouraging, in that at least we’re seeing some sense of an impact on the proceedings of the investigation. Am I hopeful that they’ll come to the right conclusion? No. But at least it’s keeping people talking about it.
That brings me to the final bit of good news from the announcement: because people have continued to talk about it, because we’ve all collectively been able to put pressure on the FIG, they have announced that they will be instituting procedures starting next year that will hopefully better enforce the minimum age requirement. The FIG will require every gymnast who competes in an international competition at the junior or senior level to register a license based on their passport. This license will follow them throughout the entirety of their gymnastic career, thus creating better internal documentation within the FIG to maintain a time-line of the gymnast’s age.
This system isn’t perfect, but it’s at least a start in the right direction. Of course, the problem still remains that when the gymnasts first register, they have to rely solely on the authenticity of the gymnast’s passport, which we all know by now isn’t exactly reliable. But that isn’t even the worst of the loopholes that can – and we know will be – exploited. For instance, if a gymnast doesn’t compete internationally until right before an Olympics or world championship, they won’t have a license, thus the FIG wouldn’t have their own internal documentation to establish the gymnast’s age over time.
This seems like a rather ridiculous loophole, since it would inevitably lead to yet another He Kexin. Which is unfortunate, as we’ve seen time and again that usually a gymnast of that level will have competed in several international competitions well before they turn 16, which is one of the major reasons I still have doubts about exactly how old He Kexin really is. Why would a gymnast of that caliber wait around for so long before debuting on the international stage? Especially considering the fact that He Kexin would have started training well before the age of five and thus would have been easily able to compete internationally by the age of 13 or 14. Why would she waste two years, risking potential career-ending injury in the interim, before showing up at the Olympics? It just doesn’t make any sense, considering the relatively short lifespan of gymnastic careers; if you’re going to win medals, you need to start competing as soon as you can. Wasting time just isn’t an option.
Still, any step the FIG can possibly make toward enforcing their own rules should be applauded. But we cannot forget to remind them that – for the sake of the sport and their own credibility – they need to shore up these loopholes as soon as possible to avoid another scandal like this one. I don’t think gymnastics can afford it. But more importantly, I don’t think young athletes can afford to be subjected to any more abuse by the Chinese gymnastic training program. There is no doubt in my mind that these children are being forced into these programs against their will, at ages too young to be physically or psychologically safe, and are being criminally abused by incompetent and ruthless coaches. It is the responsibility of the International Gymnastics Federation to do everything within their power to protect their athletes – not only the ones who compete at the Olympics or world championships, but every gymnast being trained on the road to those competitions. Too many children are abused at the hand of the Chinese government and it must stop.
As much as I would want to, I can’t stop every child from being abused in China or anywhere else. But we have an opportunity here to improve the lives of a group of children who are being abused today. We have the opportunity to make a difference in their lives, to take that one step toward an overall reform not only of sport, but of basic human rights. As Mother Teresa said, “I cannot do everything, but I can do something.” We have a once in a lifetime opportunity to encourage China to change. We must do anything and everything we can to take advantage of that opportunity for the sake of every child who has been, is now, or will be subjected to the horrific abuse of the Chinese gymnastics training program. This isn’t just about the FIG maintaining its image, this isn’t just about medals. This is about righting a wrong that has gone on too long. We can do something about it; I sincerely hope we won’t hesitate.
On that note, I’d like to show you another illustration of precisely the kind of abuse we have the opportunity to stop. I’ve received a lot of comments about the photos I posted previously, letting me know of the impact they had. As much as those photos upset me, it doesn’t hold a candle to the video I saw this morning. I’ll warn you, it’s graphic and it is most certainly disturbing. At one point I had to look away and just thinking about it now, I’m only just holding back tears. It is that bad. This is what we can change, so that no one else has to go through what these children have endured. This is what this fight is about; this is why it is so much more important than a medal.
Two investigations by international and He Kexin is still guilty in the eye of US media and American public.
I hope your daughter and sister will never be put thru the ringer like this…
Charles – I didn’t say that I think He Kexin is definitely guilty, I didn’t condemn her for anything. All I said was that I still have my doubts, because I’ve only seen the evidence that points to major discrepancies with her age. Hence why I suggested that the FIG present the evidence that led to their ruling so that this issue can be laid to rest without any doubts at all. See? Major difference there. I’m asking to see the conclusive evidence so that there won’t be any doubts left, so that He Kexin can finally stop being hounded.
And yes, I do sincerely hope that my child – if I’m ever blessed to have one – is not stolen by my government at the age of three, forced through an abusive physical training program against her will, and physically injured and abused by her coaches. That’s exactly why I want the FIG to be thorough in their ruling and set up comprehensive enforcement procedures for this age requirement rule, so that no one else has to go through this ever again, either the controversy OR the abuse that led to the scandal that we’re in now.
It still baffles me that people don’t get that. Well, I guess that’s what happens when people post comments before actually reading the blog post.
Hi,
The “no pain no game” mentality specially the trainers could or maybe physically cripple some of the kids.
China does not like embarrassment but there must be a way to show them where they cannot back up from see it.. just 1-2minutes that would be plenty medicine of their own.
Also… skydivers keep a record for life… we record all our jumps in a sort of notebook, special booklets, every jump is signed by the trainer and this is the same procedure it should be followed in every sport.
I have not idea what do they call a ‘passport’ but these records cannot be falsified. It would be like having a missing page from a minute book as the pages are numbered.
Then again as Chinese pride is so high they will probably hire someone to fill the booklets… how a boring life, how a boring job.
Heather,
Hi buddy 😉
Sorry it took sooo long for me to get to your blog, but I am here now and I hope we can have meaningful interaction from this point forward. I have given your site a good “once-over” and think I have a little better idea of who you are. BTW, saw the “real” photo, Very Cute!!! , Curious? do you have a southern accent?? OK,OK I am done hitting on you..
Let’s get to the issues shall we. I have seen the heartwrenching photos you have provided or that were provided to you by your “source”, very moving. I am now “torn”. On the one hand I certainly would hate to think of my little princesses being “tortured” and made to stretch and hang and twist to the point of popping their little MCL’s or ACL’s. These photos show a side of the Chinese Gymnastic process that few get to see and it is certainly disturbing imagery. So I will concede that if the group of young ladies that I have managed to get so worked up about has been put through this process, I am not very happy about that. However, it only intensifies my desire for the girls to be able to hold on to their medals knowing they may have been put through this kind of hell.
I noticed that you had not had a chance to (or decided not to) respond to my last comment directed at you and our friend IO, on our buddy Mike’s Blog. To refresh, I stated that for the most part I was trying to view this whole process through the eyes of the Chinese girls themselves and in doing so I was having a very hard time seeing how blog’s like Mike’s or Your’s were going to be beneficial to me. Let’s pretend I am Deng linlin or He kexin for a minute, I log on to Stryde Hax or The Heather Show and begin to read the topic’s and comments. Do you honestly believe that I am going to be able to interperate what I read as “Everyone looking out for what is best for me”??? I think if I were them and could read english, I would quickly ascertain that these blog’s are pointing out a bunch of information that is only going to lead to me having my newly won medals stripped away from me, and if I read the comments I would find that for the most part everyone commenting would be quite pleased if my medals were taken away from me. Would that be in Deng linlin’s or He Kexin’s best interest?????? If I were a 12 to 16 year old girl from china who has been put through living hell for the better part of my life, I would imagine that I would probably want to hold to the medal that I just won, just guessing on that one.
Heather, you have pointed out and shown exactly what it is that these “underaged” gymnasts have had to go through just to get to the olympics. 16 year age limit or no 16 year age limit, It is impossible to justify stripping the medals of these poor girls knowing and having visual evidence of what they probably had to go through, so I am damn happy they are going to get to keep their medals, god knows, they earned them.
On the topic of getting China to change their policies and training procedures, I am 100% for that. My point all along here has been that He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng linlin should not have to pay for or be penalized by their governments mistakes.
I look forward to talking with you in the future.
your friend, Jon
aka. denglinlinfan
I’d like to beat those men with a baseball bat betweeen the legs and then throw them in jail for the remainder of their child-abusive lives. Sick.
This is child abuse, and it should stop. And until it does, China should not be allowed to particpate in anything gymnastic, ever, until they can prove otherwise.