I didn't think about it at the time, but the internet has certainly made it difficult, if not impossible, to hide anything. Perhaps 2008 was a cautionary tale for potential bad actors.
Karolyi said in his memoir (or maybe it was MLR's) that Szabo was 15 in LA, which would make 1969 totally plausible. But we have to consider the source.
Just to put Chinese age falsification into context, various forms of cheating were (and maybe still are) rampant in the PRC. When I studied there in the early 90s, I knew several college students who were several years older than their official age. Apparently, they were too old to sit for the...
The Romanians had
Klotz had a full-on mullet, which was a very popular style for American guys back then.
Fun fact: From ages 14-16, I had the same haircut as Gabrielle Faehnrich/GDR. At the end of tenth grade (1986), I started growing my hair and eventually got a perm with poufy bangs. I...
When ProSport visited Daniela Silivaș in person later that year in Eforie Nord, where she was vacationing with family, she elaborated on the mechanics of the deception. “One of the federation officials came to me and said, ‘Here is your passport—starting today, you’re not 13 anymore, you’re...