Doesn't matter if its common or not...Its still cheating. And yes there is no way in hell that all those girls were at least 16.. Rules are Rules.. IF it is proved that they were in fact under the age of 16 at the very least their Gold medals should be forfitted to the Unites States. Furthermore like it was mentioned above, since it is suspiciously cheating on a MACRO level (backed and perhaps forced by the Chinese gov't. Which doesnt surprise me at all) China should be disqualified from all events period. But seeing as how they are the host country.. That is highly unlikely given the IOC and all....

Scenario:

Ok, so lets assume for a second that the "nudging of dates isn't uncommon" and the Chinese gov't knows they are using underage girls to compete and is staying quiet about it..

What should the penalty be if China is found to be cheating?
1) Only the girls who are underage are stripped of their medals?
2) The entire woman's gymnastic, olympic team is stripped of their medals?
3) The entire countries Olympic team is stripped of their medals and is disqualified as a nation?

As stated in an earlier thread, I think China should be punished by having their entire olympic team disqualified. And while it might seem harsh to punish all their athletes, even in unrelated sports, since the cheating is not just on an athlete level but on a state level, it would seem only proper to disqualify the entire country.

Again, it can't just be the athletes and coaches that cheated in a case like this, it would be the government as well.

If I were the IOC, I would keep quiet about the entire ordeal until after the Olympics are over. Once the games have finished, I would launch a massive investigation and punish the athletes and country after the games have finished.

And while that's not the right approach in the truest purity of the games, because it is the host country, it's probably not better to shit where you eat, in the middle of lunch.

B

Yeah I agree. They won't do anything until after the games are over. But they better do it....The situation definitely calls for it.

The IOC is right up there with the UN, imo:
A Supper Club for ex-blueblood, stumbling old fools.
Who cares if they are 14 or 16 or...

MD,

Question,

Are you suggesting that the IOC doesn't care if they are 14 or 16? Or do you not care?

My guess is the age limit is there to protect under-aged athletes. The rule certainly isn't there because there is some inherit advantage to being under-aged in any of the events.

You can argue that they're 14 or 15 but you can't argue that they weren't better. After all, Olympic competition is about determining who is the best in the world, not who over the age of 16 is the best in the world.

I'll go out on the limb and say both.............:rofl:

I think it will not matter because if they are underage China will hide it
for sure, and expect others to keep their mouth shut about it because
it's all about winning.

:iagree: :iagree:
I don't think age has anything to do with physical ability. At young ages they are mentally not ready or prepared for what lies ahead.