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.

 

[irichluck21]

Why did USAG never properly pursue it?

It didn't help that Bela Karolyi was talking about it and calling them babies with baby teeth. He said that the North Koreans sent their gymnast in diapers with three different birth dates (that part was accurate). He was not really diplomatic about it.

China falsified He Kexin's DOB at the very least and scrubbed the internet before sending her to Beijing.
Team gold was the main priority and the only way China could beat the US was to stack bars. Once He Kexin was able to compete the 7.7 difficulty it was a done deal. She was competitive on bars in 2007 but didn't have the 7.7.

It would have been hard to make a case against China as her passport had 1992 listed as her birth year and China had already gone back and scrubbed the internet. No one had any evidence. Other than this article written, there wasn't anything online.

 

[RedBirdie]

And then Gymnastics History posts this today!

Daniela Silivaș and the Birthdate Romania Let Slip Away – Gymnastics History

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

It didn't help that Bela Karolyi was talking about it and calling them babies with baby teeth. He said that the North Koreans sent their gymnast in diapers with three different birth dates (that part was accurate). He was not really diplomatic about it.

China falsified He Kexin's DOB at the very least and scrubbed the internet before sending her to Beijing.
Team gold was the main priority and the only way China could beat the US was to stack bars. Once He Kexin was able to compete the 7.7 difficulty it was a done deal. She was competitive on bars in 2007 but didn't have the 7.7.

It would have been hard to make a case against China as her passport had 1992 listed as her birth year and China had already gone back and scrubbed the internet. No one had any evidence. Other than this article written, there wasn't anything online.

Honestly I doubt what Bela said made any difference. As you say, the official documents said 1992. Really all the US could do in that situation was make sure the world knew, which I think it's fair to say they did.

@RedBirdie very interesting to see it all set out like that. I had wondered which DOB Silivas was using in the US.

 

[IratePanda]

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 15,'” she recalled. “No one asked whether I agreed; I was just a child. They needed gold medals, and everyone involved in gymnastics knew about these practices.”

This happened in 1985, but Silivas competed internationally in 1983 and 1984. I guess no one noticed that her passports had two different birthdates.

 

[MaryClare]

I hate Daniela Silivas. I have always hated Daniela Silivas. Even in 2003 when I’d spent 18 hours downloading Seoul videos and everybody told me I was just a kid and didn’t know anything. I was right

 

[IratePanda]

I hate Daniela Silivas. I have always hated Daniela Silivas. Even in 2003 when I’d spent 18 hours downloading Seoul videos and everybody told me I was just a kid and didn’t know anything. I was right

I rooted for her in Seoui '88 because I really didn't like Shushunova, and my true favorites were injured and/or out of contention.

 

[MaryClare]

I rooted for her in Seoui '88 because I really didn't like Shushunova, and my true favorites were injured and/or out of contention.

I wasn’t born yet, but Shushunova not one of my favourites from that era. But Silivas was just….ugh

 

[RedBirdie]

Her hair in Seoul was the epitome of terrible 1980s fashion. There were so many terrible hairstyles that decade, but the short poodle perm was easily the worst.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Her hair in Seoul was the epitome of terrible 1980s fashion. There were so many terrible hairstyles that decade, but the short poodle perm was easily the worst.

This is true. I love Seoul era Silivas, but they should probably strip her of at least one medal for the hairdo. Statute of limitations be damned.

 

[Matilda23]

Didn’t Silivas say in an interview, that she didn’t want short hair but someone in the federation made her cut her hair.

Short hair for women was in fashion at the time but more like Dorte Thummler’s hair at Seoul. Though maybe in the East it was a different style (Silivas, Ulrike Klotz in 88).

 

[MaryClare]

Didn’t Silivas say in an interview, that she didn’t want short hair but someone in the federation made her cut her hair.

Short hair for women was in fashion at the time but more like Dorte Thummler’s hair at Seoul.

Why would someone in the federation make her cut her hair? Gymnastics coaches tend to, even today have pretty conservative views about what look is acceptable for a gymnast.

Was Camelia’s hair do also forced upon her? Because that’s the only acceptable excuse for it

 

[RedBirdie]

Didn’t Silivas say in an interview, that she didn’t want short hair but someone in the federation made her cut her hair.

Short hair for women was in fashion at the time but more like Dorte Thummler’s hair at Seoul. Though maybe in the East it was a different style (Silivas, Ulrike Klotz in 88).

My very white American mother was absolutely rocking the terrible short poodle look around 1998. Maybe a bit earlier, but definitely have pictures of her with that godawful hairdo and giant '80s glasses.

 

[rlayt]

Hard to decide which one had the worst hair back then. Voinea’s is still terrible but in a different way.