Beijing 2008, or: who else isn't watching?

**HoreTore** · 08-22-2008, 14:11

Hmm, I have to confess that I'm clueless when it comes to gymnastics, but why is being young an advantage in that sport?

**Ronin** · 08-22-2008, 14:41

Originally Posted by HoreTore

Hmm, I have to confess that I'm clueless when it comes to gymnastics, but why is being young an advantage in that sport?

girls that have not yet gone through puberty have a series of physical advantages in gymnastics....total body weight is lower, center of gravity position in the body is different, general flexibility is higher...etc.

this whole subject will end up coming to a dead end obviously.....the Chinese government issues the documents that state the false ages so they can basically "verify" their own false claims....these medals will obviously be tainted on the general public´s opinion but that´s about as far as it will go.

**JR-** · 08-22-2008, 15:14

has anything happened since to publicly out this record tampering?

**Adrian II** · 08-24-2008, 10:24

Since Jamaica, a country with no independent drug testing for ahletes, won just about every track gold medal, I'm considering taking part in the London 2012 Games with a rocket pack on my back. I guess as long as my passport looks okay, I'm in.

**Louis VI the Fat** · 08-24-2008, 13:32

Thanks Beijng for these great games! It's been a distinct pleasure having made aquintance with the real China in this way.

79-year-old Wu Dianyuan. And her friend Wang Xiuying, 77.

Sentenced to one year of 'reeducation through physical labour in the camps. What for? For protesting the demolishment of their family homes for the Olympics without compensation.

Just two faces out of hundreds of thousands.

**Evil_Maniac From Mars** · 08-24-2008, 17:20

Wait - it said on the coverage yesterday that a British diver was fourteen, and he apparently acknowledged that it was true, but he was still competing. Do the regulations differ by sport?

**JR-** · 08-24-2008, 18:01

i think it does, being younger is supposed to confer an unnacceptable advantage in sports like gymnastics if i remember correctly.

**Ronin** · 08-25-2008, 01:48

the age limits vary from sport to sport....I think they are set by the international federation for each individual sport.

**Marshal Murat** · 08-25-2008, 02:07

Age matters in different sports. In Gymnastics, age confers flexibility, agility, and ignorance. They are more flexible than an older gymnast. They have almost no fear, since they can't comprehend the full scope of their events. The event age limit also prevents them from developing breaks and sprains that could occur on over strained muscles.

**Papewaio** · 08-25-2008, 22:23

Diving is gymnastics with water... I can hardly see how being flexible is not an advantage in diving. So the same explotation that is bad for gymnastics would have to be as bad in diving.

But it is by federation... in football at the olympics there is an upper age limit...