Revisiting Past Age Falsifications

[youwannacranson]

I've also always found it interesting that He Kexin wasn't sent to 2007 Worlds. In 2003 & 2007 gymnasts turning senior in 2004 & 2008 were able to compete at Worlds for experience and to help the Olympic teams they'd be eligible for qualify

Her 2007 bars was very competitive, but It was said she was only recruited to the NT that year which is why she didn't go. Contradicting this, there's a video of her with the rest of the junior NT in 2006

Something else to remember is Dong Fangxiao wasn't caught until summer of 2008, so there was no reason not to up until then (He's likely being changed in very early 2008)

 

[makam]

Kim Gwang-suk clearly wasn't destined for a long career, but dang, what talent.

As for the 2008 Olympics, i was surprised Team GB didn't pitch a bigger fit about the obvious age falsification since they were the ones most likely to lose a medal due to it (and did by .025.)

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

It was a done deal at that point, right?

My obviously wrong conspiracy theory is that China threw the bone of the Sydney team to take the scent off of their Beijing team as a compromise.

 

[MaryClare]

I've also always found it interesting that He Kexin wasn't sent to 2007 Worlds. In 2003 & 2007 gymnasts turning senior in 2004 & 2008 were able to compete at Worlds for experience and to help the Olympic teams they'd be eligible for qualify

Her 2007 bars was very competitive, but It was said she was only recruited to the NT that year which is why she didn't go. Contradicting this, there's a video of her with the rest of the junior NT in 2006

Something else to remember is Dong Fangxiao wasn't caught until summer of 2008, so there was no reason not to up until then (He's likely being changed in very early 2008)

I’m guessing it’s because they wanted her exposed to the world for the shortest time possible

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Kim Gwang-suk clearly wasn't destined for a long career, but dang, what talent.

As for the 2008 Olympics, i was surprised Team GB didn't pitch a bigger fit about the obvious age falsification since they were the ones most likely to lose a medal due to it (and did by .025.)

It's funny that she could've ended up having one by the standards of the time, if it weren't for those pesky DOBs. IIRC North Korea did want to send her to 93 worlds, which would've made her a 5th year senior had they pulled it off.

On GB, it was interesting. I wonder if part of it was that Tweddle was very much held together with string. She'd barely competed in 08, and it wasn't at all clear she was going to get through a Games. So maybe it wasn't worth the diplomatic fuss for something that might not even come up.

The ages were a massive story here during the Olympics though. Even got a couple of broadsheet headlines, back when that was still a thing. I think it was in the 2nd week of the Games.

 

[RedBirdie]

It was a done deal at that point, right?

My obviously wrong conspiracy theory is that China threw the bone of the Sydney team to take the scent off of their Beijing team as a compromise.

I truly believe that Dong Fangxiao, or whoever submitted that documentation on her behalf in 2008, didn't think of the implications of submitting her true documentation rather than continuing to secure and submit false documents. After all, it's not like FIG or the IOC ever really took age falsification very seriously, let alone years after the fact.

I even wager that had this happened at any other Olympics, it would have slipped through without notice. But in 2008, the whole world was screaming "THE CHINESE ARE SO OBVIOUSLY FAKING AGES!" And then Dong Fangxiao submits paperwork with a different birthdate than the one she competed under. Of course that came under immediate scrutiny. Be it naivete on the part of Dong Fangxiao (heck, did she even notice her current passport had a different DOB than the one she was issued as a child? Who knows), or sloppiness on the part of Chinese sports officials (who, if I'm being generous, as an individual may not have realized the different DOB problem), it was a perfect storm to force FIG and the IOCs hand.