IOC // Current

IOC Retesting All Beijing Olympic Doping Samples

The International Olympic Committee will retest all doping samples from the Beijing Games to check for traces of a new... more

ebindelglass
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Songs for Tibet - Art of Peace Foundation "Freedom is Expression"

www.ArtofPeaceFoundation.org. As a show of solidarity with the Dalai Lama and Tibet, 20 artists have come together to release this... more

freeforall2008
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Michael Phelps & Stephanie Rice Spotted Making Out

Michael Phelps' love life has been the source of many rumors over the last week — including, most notably, his... more

SushiBandit
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Did the Chinese cheat? International Olympic Committee launches probe into He Kexin's age

Was she 14 or 16? Who knows but we may find out... excerpt... The International Olympic Committee has ordered an... more

nwintroub
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IOC Finally Looking at Ages of Chinese Gymnasts

With the parents growing indignant and the Beijing Games winding down, the International Olympic Committee wants to ``put to... more

ebindelglass
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IOC: "No Proof" China Cheated

"BEIJING -- Despite persistent questions about the ages of several members of the Chinese women's gymnastics team that... more

Armageddon_Now
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Hackers unearth more underage gymnast allegations

Hackers have unearthed more compelling evidence that China's dual-gold medal winning gymnast He Kexin is underaged and should... more

SushiBandit
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IOC asks Sweden to block file sharing site Pirate Bay

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has requested the Swedish government to stop notorious file sharing site The Pirate Bay... more

SushiBandit
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Pirate Bay renamed Beijing Bay after Olympics tracking

The Pirate Bay has a new logo, at least temporarily. The world's most notorious torrent-tracking site has temporarily... more

Sons_Of_Liberty
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Olympic Torrents More Popular Than Ever

This week, close to two million people have downloaded the Olympics opening ceremony, which makes it the most pirated TV-show of... more

Sons_Of_Liberty
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Katerina Thanou to sue IOC - Beijing Olympics 2008

Greek sprinter Katerina Thanou will sue the "totalitarian” International Olympic Committee following its decision to... more

Sons_Of_Liberty
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Swedish wrestler stripped of bronze medal

A Swedish wrestler was disqualified and stripped of his bronze medal Saturday for dropping the prize in protest after a disputed... more

Pericles1978
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The IOC must investigate the Chinese gymnasts' ages or lose all credibility

The Olympics’ age-old problem
By Dan Wetzel,

BEIJING – For a long time, elements of the Chinese government itself thought women’s gymnast He Kexin was born Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14 and too young to compete in these Summer Olympics.

Whether it was repeated mentions in the government-controlled media – including a new one uncovered Friday by the Associated Press – or on official gymnastic meet registration forms and websites, He was “this little girl” and a “new star.”

As recently as December 2007, in provincial gymnastics meets and news reports that covered it, she was a 13-year-old prodigy, too young for the 16-year-old Olympic age limit for gymnastics.

Then, suddenly, she wasn’t.

Earlier this year China produced her passport that claimed she was born Jan. 1, 1992, making her old enough to perform a brilliant uneven bar routine and push China to the women’s all around gold medal.

The Chinese either got it wrong in 2007 or wrong in 2008. Considering 2000 Chinese bronze medalist Yang Yun later admitted on state television she was 14 that year, the reported ages of He Kexin and at least two of her teammates have aroused suspicion in nearly everyone except the powers that be – the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Both organizations accepted the new passport as fact, certified He and tried to cover their collective ears at all the complaints. Wednesday, the IOC even slipped a gold medal around He Kexin’s neck.

If the IOC had a modicum of decency and courage (don’t count on it), it would open an immediate investigation into whether it might take that medal right back.

If not for the of-age gymnasts who lost to the Chinese, then for He and her diminutive teammates, who – if they actually are old enough – don’t deserve suspicion tainting their accomplishment.

While the IOC undoubtedly is petrified of humiliating the host country in such a scandal, doing nothing merely humiliates the IOC and continues the belief that the organization is about money, not fair play.

continued...........The Olympics’ age-old problem By Dan Wetzel, BEIJING – For a long time, elements of the Chinese government itself... more