Chinese Olympic Gymnasts Cleared
Documents Verified Their Ages; Investigation Into Nation's '00 Squad Continues

By Liz Clarke
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, October 2, 2008

After reviewing documents supplied by Chinese officials, the international governing body of gymnastics announced yesterday it was satisfied that China's female gymnasts met minimum-age requirements during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

As a result, its six-week inquiry into the age of China's teen gymnasts, including uneven-bars gold medalist He Kexin, has ended, and no medals awarded in Beijing will change hands.

The finding was met with grace by all-around gold medalist Nastia Liukin, who issued a statement congratulating the Chinese women anew on their achievements. Liukin was edged by He for gold on the uneven bars after a tiebreak was needed to distinguish their identical scores.

"My family and I are pleased with the level of scrutiny the FIG and IOC undertook with this very serious issue," Liukin, 18, said in the statement. "When the questions arose originally in the press, all anyone in the gymnastics and Olympic communities wanted was closure, which now we have."

Questions remain, however, about the age of two members of China's bronze medal-winning women's team at the 2000 Sydney Games. That inquiry will continue. The U.S. women finished fourth, just behind China, in the team competition.

"The FIG does not consider the explanations and evidence provided to date in regards to these athletes as satisfactory," read a statement issued yesterday by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).

Dominique Dawes, a member of the 2000 U.S. squad, applauded FIG for its efforts to verify the gymnasts' ages, saying, "Hopefully it will help right some of the wrongs." Dawes went on to say that she viewed countries skirting age limitations as a form of cheating, no different than athletes who use performance-enhancing drugs.

Emmanuelle Moreau, a spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee, said in a telephone interview that it would be inappropriate to comment on whether China could be stripped of its 2000 bronze.

"We're not there yet," Moreau said.

But the IOC is satisfied with FIG's inquiry into the ages of China's 2008 Olympians. "We consider the matter closed now," Moreau said.

In the weeks leading up to the Beijing Games, media reports indicated that as many as three gymnasts were underage. But Chinese officials insisted otherwise, as did He and her coach.

At issue was the legitimacy of four Olympic medals: China's women's all-around team gold; He's gold on the uneven bars; and Yang Yilin's bronze medals on the uneven bars and individual all-around.

FIG President Bruno Grandi insisted during the Games that the sanctioning body had no way to verify athletes' ages other than by passport data. But as the controversy continued, bolstered by Internet postings of documents indicating the gymnasts were 14, the IOC prodded FIG to investigate further.

That led to the review of additional documents, which proved convincing.

"Originals of official documents received from the Chinese Gymnastics Association, specifically passports, identity cards and family booklets or 'Household Registers,' confirm the ages of the athletes," the FIG statement said.

Gymnastics requires that athletes be 16 -- or turn 16 in the calendar year -- to compete in the Olympics. There was no such requirement in 1976, when Romania's Nadia Comaneci earned the first perfect 10 at the Montreal Games at age 14.

Advocates of the age minimum say it's necessary to protect young athletes, both physically and emotionally, while they are still developing. Others, including U.S. Olympic team coordinator Martha Karolyi, argue that the requirement should be abolished because it's impossible to police.

China wouldn't be the first country to have flouted the age limits. Romania and North Korea have done so, and other countries have been suspected of as much.

Younger female gymnasts are considered to have an advantage because their center of gravity is higher. They also tend to be less fearful, coaches say, as well as more compliant.