BEIJING (AP) -- Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the
Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He
Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team
that won a gold medal this week.
In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new
stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age as
13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those
games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a difficult release
move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese
gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web
sites,
www.hb.xinhuanet.com
The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday
morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web
site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports
editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for
publication.
If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He
was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on
Wednesday and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold in
gymnastics. He is also a favorite for gold in Monday's uneven bars ...