REWIND : WEEK SIX 28/10 : 2008 US National Championships

[ArnoldRimmer]

So why hasn't He Kexin's underage gold medal been contested?

Her passport said she was born in 1992, so that was that. Not much else to be done in that situation, even if the will had been there. We all know states issuing documentation with incorrect details is a thing that has happened more than zero times, but a challenge to the Chinese state would've been politically and practically difficult. It would also have achieved sod all.

I'm glad the sport has changed so much that the incentive to do this isn't there any more.

 

[QuietColours]

The statue of limitations is 10 years, so it's moot at this point and has been for a while.

I believe there was an investigation several years ago. However, the IOC/FIG have been very clear that they will only convict of age falsification if different dates of birth are submitted on different forms used for international competition. For example, Kim Gwang Suk and Hong Su Jong had multiple different dates of births submitted for international competition.

This is most easily seen with Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun. Yang Yun publicly stated within the statue of limitations that she was underage in 2000. However, no action was taken because that younger age was never claimed on official paperwork. Dong Fangxiao, however, actually submitted her true birthday (which showed she was underage) on IOC paperwork when she was certified as an official at the 2008 Olympics. The fact she put it on official paperwork within the statute of limitations is what led to the 1999 and 2000 teams being stripped of their medals.

Basically, the organizations are going to accept whatever the governments tell them unless the governments submit multiple birth years to the organization, making it impossible to ignore, or the athlete uses multiple birthdates with the organization in other areas.

And once the statue of limitations is up, athletes can offer the truth if they want to with no fear of official reprecussions.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

The statue of limitations is 10 years, so it's moot at this point and has been for a while.

I believe there was an investigation several years ago. However, the IOC/FIG have been very clear that they will only convict of age falsification if different dates of birth are submitted on different forms used for international competition. For example, Kim Gwang Suk and Hong Su Jong had multiple different dates of births submitted for international competition.

This is most easily seen with Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun. Yang Yun publicly stated within the statue of limitations that she was underage in 2000. However, no action was taken because that younger age was never claimed on official paperwork. Dong Fangxiao, however, actually submitted her true birthday (which showed she was underage) on IOC paperwork when she was certified as an official at the 2008 Olympics. The fact she put it on official paperwork within the statute of limitations is what led to the 1999 and 2000 teams being stripped of their medals.

Basically, the organizations are going to accept whatever the governments tell them unless the governments submit multiple birth years to the organization, making it impossible to ignore, or the athlete uses multiple birthdates with the organization in other areas.

And once the statue of limitations is up, athletes can offer the truth if they want to with no fear of official reprecussions.

Yes, the investigation was in 2008. One assumes the federation were scrupulously careful with all paperwork for the rest of her career too.

 

[RichardL]

Crazy that if Yang Yun had just stayed on beam, she would've been the 2000 Olympic AA champion after Raducan's DQ, and she could just as easily also been DQed after the fact. What a mess.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Crazy that if Yang Yun had just stayed on beam, she would've been the 2000 Olympic AA champion after Raducan's DQ, and she could just as easily also been DQed after the fact. What a mess.

I have always said, the one thing that AA doesn't have is an underage medallist. It would be a truly perfect storm otherwise.

 

[Hatsumomo]

I wrote out some notes, but they're not as fun as Rafiki's.

Mourning the loss of WWGym. This competition would've been a good one to be able to go back and read the threads that we had in real time.

I had forgotten about Ivana Hong's perfect double front. That was a thing of beauty on its own, but especially compared to Nastia's.

Vault values really took a nosedive. Nastia's 1.5TY was worth more than an Amanar now and the Amanar was .1 more than Simone's YDP.

I watched night one and I'm amused that Shawn said she wanted to pick music that didn't seem "juniorish" but chose a disjointed cut of music of which she performs completely independently.

I remember Christa Tanella being a fixture at Nationals for several years but never making it onto the national team. I also recall that she, alongside Shayla Worley, was acting like she was a top recruit during her college tour.

I'm just endlessly amused at Chellsie and Alicia running the women's program now. I don't think I could have called that one.

Does anybody remember why Jana Bieger was given the alternate position for Beijing? She fell at the camp or something along those lines, right?

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Does anybody remember why Jana Bieger was given the alternate position for Beijing? She fell at the camp or something along those lines, right?

She did, both days as I recall. And it was on bars, the only event where she'd have been relevant.

But there wasn't really anyone else. The alternates got those spots essentially because they were the ones still standing (an achievement by itself considering the injury rate at the time). I remember we had a thread at the time, before Chellsie and Sam's injuries, about how in virtually all cases an athlete being injured out would mean the routine being replaced from within the named team. Bieger if anything was probably the one with the most usable routine, with the team's weakness on bars.

 

[irichluck21]

I remember thinking Corrie Lothrop had barely a chance at the Olympic Trials let alone Olympics as alternate.

 

[rlayt]

2004 and 2008 Marta was the enemy from within.

 

[MaryClare]

What is striking about 2008 is how few of the previous quad’s top juniors managed to have a successful senior career. Perhaps the new code has something to do with it