A post by Maynard
You’ve probably heard about the victorious Chinese women gymnasts, who are suspected of being too young to be eligible. This has been widely reported, for example by FoxNews and the Int’l Herald Tribune.
With all the hoopla about testing for drugs and steroids and other illicit enhancements, I’m wondering why there isn’t some forensic test for age. Can’t they cut one of the girls in half and count the annual rings or something? Is there really no reliable, straightforward way to determine someone’s age? Or is everyone just, as this editorial suggests, afraid of embarrassing our Chinese hosts?
There is no definite forensic test that I know of to establish age with that degree of precision. Forensic estimates are based primarily on physical characteristics.
Onset of puberty in women is somewhat dependent on body weight and underweight women can have delayed puberty. This age group is the most difficult to estimate because of the variable onset of puberty. Eating is very tightly controlled in some training programs. If they choose petite girls and keep them slightly underweight, they could end up with a 16 y/o that looks 13. There is also a significant difference between the physique of the divers, although no question of age. I believe is due to the selection of children with certain abilities and physical characteristics for specific sports.
In free countries, the individuals choose their dreams. In totalitarian countries, children are selected and developed for the dreams of the rulers. Those who succeed are highly rewarded. Those who fail? Does anybody else think they see fear in addition to fierce pride in the face of Chinese?
Pathman, you nailed it (pun intended) when you mentioned the look in their faces. I was of the opinion for many years that the athletes of the Eastern Block countries always had a strange look in their eyes. One could always tell if a gymnist, or, any other type of athlete was from Russia, Romania, China, etc… by looking in the eyes.
Now, after all these years I realize what that look is/was after reading your post – fear.
There’s always been a difference between athletes from freer countries than from totalitarian ones. In these totalitarian states, life was so much easier for athletes as far as getting better food, housing, the all around prestige of promoting the “good” things about a particular county/dictatorship.
I can think of a whole bunch of athletes who lived in dictatorships and lived the good life. For example: Katarina Witt from East Germany; Olga Korbut from the Soviet Union, even Nadia Comaneci from Romania. I remember watching an interview of Witt who talked about reading her Stasi file, every intricate detail of her life from when she ate to when she had sex was documented. With Comaneci, who rarely discusses her life in Romania, she was so popular in the West, I think her life was much more difficult. She ended escaping during the 1989 revolution. My family knew a woman from Romania who told us basic necessities such as toilet paper were impossible to find. She told us in her family of 7, they were given only one roll of toilet paper!! Also she said finding decent food was almost impossible!! As a young girl this shocked me!! When I thought about this woman’s life, who thanked god was able to escape, and Comaneci’s life who had the better life, so to speak? Much more was at stake. These individuals could not choose the country they were born in. They were talented athletes living in and propping up murderous regimes!!
With these Chinese gymnast, regardless of training, it is obvious they are underage. This shameful spectacle once again proves to me that these games should have never been given to China!! I’m glad the All-Around Title in Gymnastics went to an American!!
Used to be we joked about the mannish attributes of the Soviet Block female athletes. The National Lampoon ran a goofy cover pic parodying this at about the time of the 1976 Olympics. (Here’s one on eBay. It’s not the eyes that scare me.)
While I cannot take the time now to do the internet research to come up with citations, anyone who really wants to nail down (to continue the metaphor) the details can do so easily. I have heard it variously reported that while the passports (a-hem, who issues these?) list the gymnasts with the correct Olympic age, in paperwork from from previous years’ competitions, gymnasts with the same names are at least 2 years younger than they are purported to be now.
It was also noted that one little Chines girl is missing a permanent tooth, the baby tooth having come out recently and the adult tooth not having had time to grow in yet. I was very late in all my adult teeth coming (my orthodontist had to wait till I was 13 to start because of it – he said with almost all others he could start by age 11 or 12). So that would make the Chinese girl…..?
It’s exasperating that we cannot determine true age. Remember the problem authorities had in Texas with the pregnant young girls in the FLDS compound. They were taught to lie about their age to outsiders.
In little league 16 year old boys are competing against 10 year old boys with no way to challenge them.