On Aug 22, 7:56Â pm, "RussellT"
telus.net> wrote:>> Shame! Shame! Shame on China! -- International Olympic Committee asks
>> for inquiry on age of Chinese gymnasts/IHT
>
>> International Herald Tribune
>
>> International Olympic Committee asks for inquiry on age of Chinese
>> gymnasts
>> Juliet Macur
>
>> Friday, August 22, 2008
>
>> Beijing: The International Olympic Committee has asked the world
>> governing body for gymnastics to investigate whether members of the
>> Chinese women's team were too young to compete in the Olympics.
>
>> The IOC instructed the international gymnastics federation, known as the
>> FIG, to take up the issue with the Chinese gymnastics federation and
>> report back to the IOC later Friday.
>
>> The New York Times reported last month that online records listing
>> Chinese gymnasts and their ages that were posted on official Web sites
>> in China, along with ages given in the official Chinese news media,
>> indicated that members of the team might be as young as 14. A gymnast
>> must turn 16 in the year of the Olympics to compete in the Games.
>> Chinese officials responded by providing copies of passports indicating
>> that the athletes in question were old enough.
>
>> "More information has been brought to light and brought to our
>> attention, so we decided to go to the federation and have them look into
>> it further," said Emmanuelle Moreau, a spokeswoman for the IOC "We had
>> been given some more information and thought that this information was
>> concerning enough to go to the Chinese gymnastic federation and have a
>> thorough discussion about it."
>
>> According to online sports registration lists in China, half the team ?
>> He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan ? would be under age. The FIG,
>> however, has said that those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on
>> their passports were correct.
>
>> The Chinese women won the team gold among six total medals at the
>> Beijing Games. He won the gold in the uneven bars.
>
>> Moreau declined to say what new information had led to this latest move
>> by the IOC three days after the gymnastics competition ended.
>
> Even before the current Olympics, the IOC and all the associated and related
> groups have already shown they have no shame, no honor, no morals, no
> ethics. For me, the time when I came to finally view that organization with
> disgust was the 2002 Winter Olympics held in the
US:http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0922269.html
>
> There was one scandal and charges of corruption after the other, in the true
> European tradition, of back room deals and payoffs. The North American
> ideology is different on these types of things, and as a related cultural
> difference we see countries such as Germany allowed foreign pay-offs for
> contracts as legal and even openly declared tax write-offs.
>
> Particularly disgusting was the case of the Canadian figure skating duo that
> was so much better that the competition, but were scored lower. It was not
> even close. The fans and media were outraged at such obvious cheating. Even
> then, the Olympic people, caught with their pants down, tried to deny it
> all, and talk their way out of it, which only made it worse. In the end the
> clear winners had to share the gold medal with the clear losers, who only
> got there by voting fraud. Â The losers never did the honorable thing, and
> renounce their gold, because they did not rightfully win it, showing they
> also have no honor, no shame, no morals.
>
> It teaches us:
> 1. The fans being free to protest and chase after the IOC leaders, kept the
> pressure on, and made the leaders answer to the people. If that Olympics was
> in places like China or Russia, there is little doubt, protesting, stirring
> dissent, or challenging the corrupt leaders, would be firmly squashed.
>
> 2. The power of the free press, showing the news on this everyday, and
> keeping the pressure on the IOC to respond correctly.
>
> 3. Even when the IOC was aware of the problem, they tried to bury it, and
> except for freedom to dissent and protest, and freedom of media in the host
> country, they would have done nothing. I predict they will not look for
> answers, but only look for a way out of this.
>
> When I refer to the IOC above, I refer to the international group. The local
> committee in the US, just like the fans and media, demanded real answers.
You expect Micky Wong to read all that and answer you, do you?
