elessar

I did kinda like the insta-wall they put up in front of him though.

Moog-Type-S

Homeslice dislocated his elbow doing the clean and jerk.

Moog-Type-S

Teh Chinese are very good at wall building.

Mizouse

funny how the commenters were like, we dont need to see the replay anymore .

Mizouse

the Mongolians are just as good at breaking them down thou.


GOD DAMN MONGOLIANS. God dammit, why do every time chinese people try to build up a wall, mongolian people have to come and nock it down!

Moog-Type-S

Were you waiting for a Mongol to jump out of the audience and knock down the wall around the weigh lifter?

Mizouse

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

It'll buff out.

te3point5

She's got a nice little tush to fall on though...

LuvMyTSX

SI.com
Posted: Wednesday August 13, 2008 9:57AM; Updated: Wednesday August 13, 2008 12:32PM
Selena Roberts Selena Roberts >
INSIDE OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS

IOC turns blind eye to controversy over China's kiddie gymnasts

Story Highlights

* China swore on its stars' passport stamps that its gymnasts are the legal age of 16
* The IOC is reluctant to offend the host country by investigating suspicions
* With Kool-Aid running through their veins, the Chinese kids were unflappable

China insists that its gold medal winners -- (from left) Cheng Fei, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng Linlin -- are all 16 or older.
China insists that its gold medal winners -- (from left) Cheng Fei, Yang Yilin, Li Shanshan, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Deng Linlin -- are all 16 or older.
AP

BEIJING -- The Chinese gymnasts could have picked out their leotards from Thumbelina's closet as they performed gymnastics in miniature on Wednesday. Wearing blue eye shadow with their hair pulled back, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Yang Yilin looked like girls who had just rummaged through their mothers' makeup. This was a ladies' final, though somehow it was hard to see how they qualified as women.

Amid pre-Olympic hand-wringing over why the birthdates of He, Yang and Jiang didn't jibe with other registration materials that showed they might be as young as 14, China swore on its stars' passport stamps that the tots are the legal tumbling age of 16. But while the tiny trio helped their nation whisk the gold medal away from a suddenly clumsy U.S. group in the team competition, it was impossible to deny the visual evidence of something unjust in China.

Just take a peek at the big lugs who stood next to the Chinese team. The U.S. squad is filled with women who are short to be sure, but with a curve to their bodies, muscle on their bones and driver's licenses in their wallets. This is gymnastics, so truth in aging is often blurred by a brutal sport laden with underdeveloped teens. With that context, did little He look sweet 16 in the eyes of other competitors?

"No, but then I don't look 20," said Alicia Sacramone, who did not make excuses after she fell flat while mounting the balance beam. With the U.S. just one point behind China heading into the last rotation, Sacramone ended up on her backside during the floor exercise. It was a mistake that effectively put gold out of reach and delivered a consolation silver to the U.S. "It was my fault," she said.

Blame-shifting is easier for others. While Sacramone revealed grace, U.S. coach Martha Karolyi revealed her doubts, feeding the age conspiracy issue by saying, "I have no clue [if they are 16]. I cannot make that call. ... It could be true. One little girl has a missing tooth."

This dental obsession must be a Karolyi family trait. Her husband, Bela, made a similar assessment last week before the competition began, bellowing, "Look in their mouths. It's like itty bitty teeth."

The investigation into the mouths of babes has been far from intensive. Basically the international gymnastics federation agrees with the birth date evidence provided by Chinese officials. And that is that. The Olympic caretaker of fairness, the IOC, has stayed largely out of the debate, with its members ever cautious not to offend host China. They see blue skies when others see pollution. They distanced themselves from Olympian Joey Cheek when his visa was revoked. They don't dare rattle sponsors who crave the consumer love of 1.3 billion people.

This brushfire is not politics, though the IOC has acted as if it is. The age suspicion is a field of play issue. Any violation of the age requirements is an act of cheating, an issue that the IOC has always cared deeply about, particularly when it comes to doping.

"[Age] is a bigger problem than doping," Bela Karolyi said. "I think it's more cheating than doping. To look in the eye of everybody and to show up with a team underage? My god, it's not good."

No amount of Bela-aching is likely to alter the outcome. The last time IOC president Jacques Rogge meddled with the medals was at the Salt Lake City Winter Games in 2002. In a rush to soothe North American audiences who, along with NBC commentators, went crackers when the beautiful Canadians lost the pairs skating gold to the Russians amid the French judge scandal, Rogge allowed a duplicate gold, bending to public rage. Never mind that the Canadians performed an inferior program to the Russians.

So do not expect a peep out of the IOC this time, no matter how angered American fans might be. If Rogge & Co. were ever going to stick their noses in this delicate case, it should have been last month when The New York Timesraised the contradictory age calculations for the Chinese gymnasts.

"It's not an even playing field," Martha Karolyi said. She understands that China was the better team in the finals. She knows the U.S. sabotaged itself with missteps. But she is right. Age has a lot to do with what's level in gymnastic competitions. There is a mental advantage for youngsters who are clueless about pressure, unaware of what wobbles the burden to win can create. Maybe that was Sacramone's problem. She is a veteran at 20 -- ready for bingo in gymnastic years -- and old enough to know what one flawed moment can mean in a team competition. Halfway through the team finals, she came unglued. "My nerves got the better of me," she said.

The young seem immune to meltdowns. With Kool-Aid running through their veins, China's gymnasts were unflappable -- especially He in the uneven bars. What an edge she had at 4-foot-8 and 73 pounds, flitting through the uneven bars with jaw-dropping release moves, light as a dragonfly. The judges adored He, whatever her age.

"I don't want to make a comment on that," said Liang Chow, the coach of American Shawn Johnson. "I believe the officials will deal with it. I'll leave it at that."

Gymnastics officials have dealt with it -- approving the age of China's gymnasts based on China-issued papers. The IOC blindly bought into this resolution, unconditionally devoted to China, seeing no need to doubt its flying Thumbelinas.




Find this article at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...sts/index.html



Copyright � 2007 CNN/Sports Illustrated.

Moog-Type-S

They were little girls for sure. No way they were 16

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

It makes ya wonder what else they cheated on.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

Sure does.

Moog-Type-S

Alicia Sacramone may suck when it comes to Olympic gymnastics crunch time...but she is good at throwing punches.


<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/2QA6s7p-zU8&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/2QA6s7p-zU8&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

LuvMyTSX

Parts of this article make me laugh. Look how much these girls weigh!!


SI.com
Posted: Wednesday August 13, 2008 5:07AM; Updated: Wednesday August 13, 2008 12:23PM
E.M. Swift E.M. Swift >
INSIDE OLYMPIC GYMNASTICS

Chinese gymnasts shine, but black cloud hovers over gold medal

Story Highlights

* The young -- and oh, so small -- Chinese soared past the Americans to gold
* The Americans struggled in the final two rotations as China won its first gold
* Still, questions over the ages of the Chinese gymnasts will leave a black cloud

Alicia Sacramone was comforted by coach Martha Karolyi after struggling in the final.
Alicia Sacramone was comforted by coach Martha Karolyi after struggling in the final.
AP

BEIJING -- The night before the showdown with the Chinese, the U.S. women's gymnastics team gathered in Shawn Johnson and Nastia Liukin's room in the Olympic Village and watched the movie Miracle, which tells the story of the 1980 U.S. Olympic hockey team's miraculous gold medal run.

It was supposed to get them into a we-can-do-anything mode. And for a while it seemed to work. The U.S. came out on Wednesday morning and took an early lead over the favored Chinese in the first apparatus of the team finals by more than half a point, with Bridget Sloan, Alicia Sacramone and Johnson all landing good, clean vaults.

They followed that up with three solid routines on the uneven bars: Chellsie Memmel starting it off with a solid 15.725, Johnson following with a steady 15.350, then Liukin reeling off a stunning 16.90. The Americans were six-for-six in hitting their routines, and the pressure fell squarely on the backs of the young Chinese.

And we do mean young. Their passports are issued by a Chinese government that is very, very interested in winning lots and lots of gold medals, so while they may say they're 15 or 16, five of the six team members have the appearance of pre-pubescent children. "The little babies," is how U.S. coach Martha Karolyi refers to the Chinese gymnasts when speaking to her team, and they certainly are little. Li Shanshan (16) is 4-foot-9, 79 pounds. Yang Yilin (15) is 4-foot-11, 77 pounds. He Kexin (16) is 4-foot-8, 73 pounds. Jiang Yuyuan (16) is 4-foot-7, 71 pounds. But the prize goes to Deng Linlin (16), who's listed at 4-foot-6 and a strapping 68 pounds. She could take a nap in Yao Ming's sneaker. Poor thing's also missing a tooth. Please, someone send baby food.

But can they ever fly from the uneven bars! The baby-faced trio of Jiang, Yang and He whirled around the bars like little acrobats, switching hand holds, spinning backwards, flipping left and right. After Jiang's 15.975, Yang put up a roof-raising 16.80 which was then trumped by He's 16.85. The resulting total of 49.625 put the Chinese ahead of the Americans by a solid 1.125 points with only two rotations left.

It didn't look good, but Cheng Fei, the one member of the Chinese team who competed four years ago in Athens, gave the U.S. hope when she fell off early in her beam routine and scored just 15.15. Li and the tiny Deng, though, followed that up with strong beam routines, leaving the Americans with no room for error.

Sacramone, 20, first up for the Americans, made short work of the suspense, falling as she tried a front pike mount off a springboard onto the beam. Afterward Karolyi explained that Sacramone had lost her focus after twice being forced to wait by beam officials after her name had been announced.

"They put her name up with a stop sign," an animated Karolyi said. "She couldn't go once, she couldn't go twice, and in my opinion it was intentional. Alicia's a little bit too emotional. I told her, 'They tried to break your focus, and you let them do it.'"

Long delays while the judges deliberate are not uncommon in gymnastics, and in any event, the gymnasts are supposed to handle any eventuality, regardless of the situation. Liukin and Johnson, dependable as ever, followed Sacramone's 15.10 routine with two great beam performances, scoring 15.975 and 16.175, respectively, to enable the Americans to narrow the gap slightly. So with the floor event remaining, the U.S. trailed the host country by exactly one point.

It wasn't a good situation to be in, since the Chinese had outscored the U.S. in the floor during the preliminaries. But it certainly wasn't an impossible deficit to overcome. Sacramone, the team captain and its spiritual leader, again was first up. But she hadn't put the fall off the beam completely behind her, and again she committed a fatal gaffe, under-rotating an Arabian on her second tumbling pass and falling backwards. "I don't know what happened on floor," she said afterward, fighting back tears. "I thought my feet were under me on that Arabian, and the next thing I knew I was on my back."

She stepped out of bounds on her final pass, but the damage had already been done. Sacramone's 14.125 on floor eliminated any realistic hopes of a comeback. Liukin and Johnson also stepped out during their otherwise solid floor routines, but those small deductions only mattered in determining the final margin of the Chinese victory. Afterward, in a touching moment, Johnson slipped her arm through Sacramone's and laid a consoling head on her shoulder. Then she said something that made Sacramone laugh, no small trick at that juncture.

"Usually it's Alicia who's keeping everyone else up," Liukin said. "So it was kind of different for us to be doing it to her this time. She kept telling us she was sorry, so sorry, but we still love her. And we still have a silver medal, which is great. China had fewer mistakes than we did. It was their day to shine."

And shine they did, to the delight of the 19,000-some pro-Chinese crowd that packed the National Indoor Stadium, roaring at every tumbling pass of the final three Chinese gymnasts. The final margin of victory over the U.S. was a comfortable 2.375 points, 188.90 to 186.525. The bronze went to Romania, which scored 181.525.

So the Chinese women have their first Olympic team gold medal. Good for them. But their prize will always be viewed under a cloud of suspicion -- prior to these Games, several publications, most notably TheNew York Times, found evidence that at least two of the Chinese gymnasts were only 14, two years younger than the Olympic minimum -- and to some extent the image of gymnastics has suffered a black eye. The Olympics is, above all else, based on the principles of fair competition, and the promotion of healthy bodies through sport. There is something mildly discomfiting about the sight of such tiny youngsters weighed down by the hopes of a nation, even after the gold medals are hanging around their feathery necks.



Find this article at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200....us/index.html


Copyright � 2007 CNN/Sports Illustrated.

Moog-Type-S

That's not even funny at all.

The IOC needs to grow a pair and do a little investigating into the matter.

dom

While I don't think they should be allowed to compete if their underage. Losing to 14 year olds makes the loss that much harder IMO.

And that BS about them not feeling the pressure is just that, BS. They were saying some of these girls are plucked from schools and daycare's at as young as 3 years old. You don't think they feel pressure after more than a decade of training and now performing in front of the home country at the Olympics? Ya, no pressure at all. Please.

LuvMyTSX

I think they were under plenty of pressure. Obviously their government cared enough about winning to force them to cheat, you think they didn't feel pressure to win? Gimme a break.

Although, I wouldn't feel too badly about losing to youngins like these. They have been trained day and night since they were practically toddlers, so they should be very good at what they do.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

not to mention, they will be beheaded if they lose.

Moog-Type-S

sifuacura

iTrader: (1)

yep and those girls will suddenly dissapear.

The Dougler

iTrader: (1)

I would like to see the dimensions of the American girls vs China vs everyone else

imj0257

iTrader: (1)

seroiusly... i think the tallest chinese girl was what? 4 foot? i swear they looked like 6th graders.

but then again, the average chinese woman is like 4'5" fully grown and still looks like a 18 yr old so maybe they really were 16

JediMindTricks

where are the girls that didn't win the gold in athens?

JediMindTricks

she's got a nice rack for a gymnast.

*checks to make sure she's overage*

EDIT: she's 20.

jlukja

^^ I'm surprised we don't have a "who's the hottest olympian" thread.

jlukja

Sold to the circus, making minimum wage?

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

I just watched that vid. That was pretty goddamn gruesome. He's lucky that bar didn't break his neck.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

I was thinking that last night when she was doing the vault. Without that sports bra she would have knocked herself out.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

http://www.sportsline.com/spin/story/10905734

MWalsh9152

whiskers ....shouldnt have tried to multi task

Mizouse

Mizouse

that picture doesnt do her any justice.

MWalsh9152

she used to train at the same gym that my sister trained at....I wish A. that I knew about her back then and B that she wasnt jailbait then

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

Another gold for the chinese (synchro diving). I'm starting to think the judges are chinese.

sho_nuff1997

iTrader: (2)

there aren't any good ones of her

JediMindTricks

ouch at the hungarian.

JediMindTricks

when she was running towards the vault, there was a lot of bouncing action...

Mizouse

kind of annoying that they are replaying this on NBC, everything is exactly the same, same cuts camera angles etc. only thing different is that there is a commentator now.

i wonder if they are playing this off as live.