As The 2008 Olympics Gymnastics Come To A Close, More Questions Than Answers
The above video from MSNBC gives us some more insight into the age controversy surrounding the Chinese Women's Gymnastic team, which as of this posting, seems to be picking up some steam as more documents surface pointing to shady actions on the part of the Chinese.
While it might seem petty to complain about these "minor" details after the fact, I stand by my original assertion that it's not about the number of medals any team gets or doesn't get, but about overall fairness and ultimately, the integrity of the Olympics. As k so eloquently explained in the previous post, there is a major advantage to being younger and smaller when it comes to competing in a sport as difficult and dynamic as gymnastics.
I have zero complaints with how our own U.S. Women's Gymnastic team performed and medaled, they did a tremendous job and really made their country proud. But then, they played fair, didn't cheat and showed an amazing amount of grace despite knowing all along they were competing against cheaters, albeit very talented and cute, but cheaters none the less.
Who knows how this will all pan out in the end, but after watching Nastia Luikin lose gold in the uneven bars to China's He Kexin, who may very well be too young to compete, it begs the question as to what's right, what's fair, and what do we do to fix what's clearly been broken in the system.
As the old adage goes, winners never cheat, and cheaters never win — except, apparently, in Beijing.
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