The mystery of the half-filled stands at many events at the 2008 Olympic Games has been solved, according to Chinese internet users, who say it is the result of a policy to prevent the gathering of large and possibly uncontrollable crowds.

They claim ticket sales to the public were secretly restricted. Blocks of tickets went to government departments, Communist party officials or state-owned companies, which have quietly obeyed orders not to hand them out. “People are so angry because they slept all night outside ticket booths and got nothing and now they see this,” said one blogger, Jian Yu.

Official explanations eroded swiftly because internet insurgents have rapidly identified cracks in the perfect facade constructed for the Olympics.

In the nine days since Chinese leaders presided over a grandiose - and, it turns out, partly faked - opening ceremony, one fact after another has eluded the censors and fuelled public indignation at the costs and the charade. Protected, they hope, by online anonymity, some of China’s 1.3 billion people are daring to wonder where it will all end.

At some football matches in the northern city of Shenyang, only a third of the seats were taken. Even some gymnastics finals, usually one of the biggest attractions on the programme, were not sold out.

Nobody seems to have explained it to the International Olympic Committee, which is baffled by the empty seats, or to the sponsors, who are disappointed.

The policy meant that some British supporters have been deprived of the excitement of seeing the Games. Even parents of competitors, such as those of Rebecca Adlington, the gold medal-winning swimmer, have complained about being unable to get seats.

Jeff Hunter, group operations director for Sportsworld, the official travel and ticket agent for the British Olympic Association, said: “It is surprising that not all the venues have been as full as they could have been.”

Lower-ranking Chinese officials hastily bused in paid “volunteers” to populate the stands in Beijing, appreciating the embarrassment caused by leaving them half-empty, but public relations remain a matter of indifference to most guardians of public order.

The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into mounting allegations that Chinese authorities covered up the true age of their gold-medal winning gymnastics star because she was too young to compete.

An IOC official told The Times that because of "discrepancies" that have come to light about the age of He Kexin, the host nation’s darling who won gold in both team and individual events, an official inquiry has been launched that could result in the gymnast being stripped of her medals.

The minimum age for female gymnasts was increased from 14 to 15 in 1981, and up to 16 in 1997, to protect the physical and mental health of young athletes.

Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she won her fist Olympic gold medal in 1976. Yet despite her stardom, there were criticisms that young girls were being pushed too hard at an age when their bodies and bones were still growing, causing permanent damage.

The minimum age for female gymnasts was increased from 14 to 15 in 1981, and up to 16 in 1997, to protect the physical and mental health of young athletes.

Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she won her fist Olympic gold medal in 1976. Yet despite her stardom, there were criticisms that young girls were being pushed too hard at an age when their bodies and bones were still growing, causing permanent damage.

Reuters

August 21, 2008 at 8:03 PM EDT

BEIJING — The International Olympic Committee has asked the International Gymnastics Federation to investigate claims that Chinese double gold medallist He Kexin is younger than the eligible age of 16 to compete in the Games.

He, registered at the Beijing Olympics as 16, won team gold and a gold in the asymmetric bars. She was registered to have been born on Jan. 1, 1992.

"Given that there have been some discrepancies regarding her age that have come to light, we have asked the FIG to look into this matter," an IOC official told Reuters.

"It is because of these discrepancies that we have asked for this investigation to start."

He's age has been under scrutiny since the start of the Games and various media have reported she had competed in past events under a different birthdate.

A U.S. computer expert had claimed in emails to the media on Thursday he had uncovered Chinese state documents that proved He was born in 1994 and not 1992.

He pipped American rival Nastia Liukin under the tiebreak rule to dramatically snatch the Olympic asymmetric bars title.

China have blazed through the Games, winning 46 gold medals so far compared to the United States' 29.

China's Olympic gold medal gymnasts at the Beijing Games were old enough to compete, but the team that won the bronze medal in Sydney eight years ago still faces questions, the international gymnastics federation said Wednesday.

The FIG closed the Beijing case after a 5½-week investigation into the ages of the women's team.

"Originals of official documents received from the Chinese Gymnastics Association, specifically passports, identity cards and family booklets or Household Registers, confirm the ages of the athletes," the FIG said in a statement.

But two members of the 2000 squad -- Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun -- remain under scrutiny.

"The FIG does not consider the explanations and evidence provided to date in regards to these athletes as satisfactory," the federation said in a statement.

Dong got a Beijing Olympics credential with documents that suggest she was only 14 in 2000, said Andre Gueisbuhler, secretary general of the FIG. Her blog also indicates she was underage in Sydney.

Yang, who also won a bronze medal on the uneven bars in 2000, said in a June 2007 interview that aired on state broadcaster China Central Television that she was 14 in Sydney. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the Olympic year to compete.

"I would hope that the whole world in sport realizes that the FIG is serious about these rules and the ethics and moral questions," Gueisbuhler said.

Calls to Yang and Dong's mobile phones rang unanswered Wednesday, a national holiday, as did phone calls to the Chinese gymnastics team's media officers.

"We are satisfied with the information provided by FIG, and we now consider the (2008) matter closed," said Emmanuelle Moreau, spokeswoman for the International Olympic Committee.

"Clearly they feel that there is more to be looked at for Sydney," Moreau added. "We encourage them to pursue their inquiry and shed some light on these cases. We now rely on them to get to the bottom of that and get back to us."

Doubts about the ages of China's current gymnasts swirled for months before the Beijing Olympics, with media reports and online records suggesting some girls could be as young as 14. Three days before the games ended, the IOC asked the FIG to look into the matter one last time.

The investigation was expanded after questions were raised about the 2000 team.

China provided the original passports, ID cards and family registers for He Kexin, Yang Yilin, Jiang Yuyuan, Deng Linlin and Li Shanshan, all showing the girls were 16 or would turn 16 this year.

"For the FIG, the age of the Chinese team is well documented and proven," Gueisbuhler said.

Underage gymnasts have been a problem since the 1980s, when the minimum age was raised from 14 to 15 to protect young athletes from serious injuries. The minimum age was raised to its current 16 in 1997.

The FIG's statute of limitations in disciplinary matters is five years, and 10 years for criminal cases. Now, the international federation is trying to determine whether Australia or Switzerland would have jurisdiction. If cause is found, the punishment could be as severe as stripping the medals.

"In our statutes, our code of discipline, we have a range of sanctions. It can be from a suspension, it can be taking medals away, it can be taking the rankings away," Gueisbuhler said.

Gueisbuhler said the documents Dong used for her Beijing credential list her birthdate as Jan. 23, 1986, which would have made her 14 -- and too young -- for the Sydney Games. Dong was a national technical official in Beijing, working as the secretary on vault. She was not part of any judging panel.

"If that document is the correct one, that would suggest she was 14 years old at the Sydney Olympic Games," Gueisbuhler said.

Dong's birthdate in the FIG database is listed as Jan. 20, 1983.

Dong's blog also says she was born in the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac, which dated from Feb. 20, 1985, to Feb. 8, 1986. Dong has not denied that, but she refused to answer any questions about her age, telling the AP last week, "I've left the gymnastics team."

"If the FIG wants to investigate this matter," she added, "I will provide every form of documentation."

The FIG also has a copy of Yang's 2007 interview, in which she seems to contradict her official birthdate. Yang's birthdate is listed as Dec. 2, 1984.

"At the time I was only 14," she said in the CCTV interview, done in Chinese. "I thought that if I failed this time, I'll do it again next time. There's still hope."

But Yang told the AP last week that she had misspoken, declining further comment.

"Everyone has misspoken before. On television shows, there are always slips of the tongue," she said.