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| Chinese Gymnasts Underage? Maybe Not. |
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***** CLICK ON (MORE INFO) *****
Are the Chinese Olympic gymnasts underage?
Maybe not.
This video is an excerpt from the documentary
film "Dream Weavers 2008" (Zhu Meng 2008).
It was the opening film of the 11th Shanghai
Film Festival that ran from June 14-22, 2008.
(Yes, the same film festival that actress
Sharon Stone was banned from attending!) The
documentary, which took director Gu Jun seven
years to make, captures events leading up to
the 2008 Beijing Olympics and how various
lives were affected by this major
international event in China.
[00:00] The video begins with a scene where
Grandmother Guo Guilan is having one last New
Year's eve dinner at home with her family.
Her ancestral house, a place where her family
has lived for three generations, will soon be
demolished due to construction of Olympic
Park. Very sad, but the scene was included
only to establish the date, which is clearly
shown in the first 4 seconds to be February
1, 2003. (Note: The documentary presented
events in strict chronological order.
Although not shown in this video, the next
date that appears in the documentary is
during the National Stadium design
competition on the 3rd of March. One can
therefore conclude with certainty that what
appears in this video occurred sometime
between February 1 and March 3, 2003.)
[00:34] The scene switches to the training
gymnasium of the National Olympic Team.
[00:49] Narrator states that the girls are
"eligible for international competitions at
age sixteen."
[00:51] The person jumping onto the uneven
bars is clearly future Chinese Olympic
Gymnastic Team member, Deng Linlin
[00:58] Narrator states that "the National
Gymnastic Association began the 2008 Olympic
selection process as early as 2003."
[01:09] The Chairman of the National
Gymnastic Association, Gao Jian, states that
the purpose of the training event is to
"select women gymnasts of the appropriate age
for the 2008 Olympics."
[01:21] Four of the gymnasts state their
names: Jiang Yuyuan, Nai Ruoyu, Shi Juan, Li
Hanghai. Of the four, only Jiang Yuyuan
eventually competed in the Olympics.
[01:26] The interviewer actually asks the
girls for their ages!!! Their answers are:
Nai Ruoyu "10", Jiang Yuyuan "12", Shi Juan
"13", and "11" for Li Hanghai. The girls
have absolutely no reason to lie at this
point. None of them are on the National Team
yet and the age controversy is still many
years away.
There you have it! If Jiang Yuyuan was 12 in
2003, that would make her 17 in 2008
(possibly even 18!). In addition, one can
also come to a reasonable conclusion that
each of the other girls who stated her age
will be old enough to compete in 2008. (Yes,
even Nai Ruoyu at age 10. She does not need
to turn 16 before the Olympics to qualify.
The official FIG rules only require that a
gymnast turn 16 in the same year as the
competition.) Why are the ages of the other
girls important when they didn't even appear
in the Olympics? Well, it serves to confirm
the Gymnastic Chairman's statement about the
purpose of the event - to "select women
gymnasts of the appropriate age for the 2008
Olympics." As a result, not only is Jiang
Yuyuan vindicated, but one can also logically
clear Deng Linlin, even if we don't know her
exact age, just by the fact that she was
present at the event.
At this point, some of the more
"well-informed" might point out that Jiang
Yuyuan's age still does not match her
passport or other "official" documents found
online. (First, she is too young, now she is
too old. She just can't seem to win!) To
them, I would suggest that they understand
that the Beijing 2008 Olympics could have
just as easily been called the Beijing 4705
Olympics. Aren't people forgetting that the
Chinese traditional calendar is still being
used alongside the internationally accepted
Gregorian calendar? (Remember Grandma Guo
and her New Year's dinner?...in February???)
In addition, there exists in a number of
Asian countries something called "xusui," a
concept that the Western media seem to have
absolutely no clue about.
(
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Asian_age_r
eckoning )
Might not conversions between these two
factors account for some of the discrepancies
reported in the media, not only for the women
gymnasts, but other Chinese athletes as well?
It would seem that Bela Karolyi (and anyone
else who took his opinions to be fact) was
wrong about the ages of at least 2 out of the
3 accused gymnasts. This video proves
nothing in the case of He Kexin because she
doesn't appear in it. This is unfortunate
because it is she that is target of the brunt
of the accusations. However, in light of
what we now know, is it not within the realm
of possibility that we might be mistaken
about her as well? Until more conclusive
evidence turns up, let's all try to keep an
open mind.
(UPDATE: The FIG concluded on Oct. 1, 2008
that China did not enter any underage
gymnasts at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.)
Tags : underage Chinese Olympic women gymnasts controversy evidence Jiang Yuyuan Deng Linlin He Kexin |
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Affichage : 30457
Durée : 125 s |
| Live Show Amanda vs Tatiana Gymnasts Fight! Female Wrestling |
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Tatiana is a gymnast trained in Russia, who
has come to the US. Amanda is an
all-American gynmast/cheerleader. They met at
a TUFF Live Show, and the result was just
what we expected - a rough, fast struggle of
two girls with gymnast pride. Watch Tatiana
immediately put her hand in Amanda's face
while they are standing. You might recognize
the MC - world famous submission wrestler
Ivy. Here's a piece of the female wrestling
fight for you. NEXT LIVE SHOW, APRIL 26,
2008, VA Beach. www.tuffbeach.com for more
info. Copyright TUFF 2008.
Tags : wrestle girl female catfight hairpull wrestling rough fight |
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Affichage : 131633
Durée : 123 s |
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