Look what YOU found!
I've been reading the comments posted to this blog with great interest. What follows are comments that I found exciting and intriguing.
BrittleBlogger said...
Following your lead i have just translated the header in these documents (see below). This shows that the document that you translated is not just the results of a competition it is the NATIONAL REGISTER of gymnasts. This evidence is getting pretty damning!
"Gymnasts reported in 2005 the National Registry Page"
"2005 National Gymnasts reported registry"
"No.", "name (in)", "Sex" and "Date of Birth", "native", "birth" and "registered", "Remarks"
Please note: this translation has not been verified by a Chinese language expert. I am still hoping to get in touch with a language expert who can provide trusted analysis of these documents. -Stryde
Ronald said...
Update:
Do this search :
http://www.google.cn/search?complete=1&hl=zh-CN&inlang=zh-CN&client=aff-sina&channel=hpsearch&hs=D5Q&affdom=sina.com.cn&q=%E4%BD%95%E5%8F%AF%E6%AC%A3+1994+site%3Awww.sport.gov.cn&btnG=Google+%E6%90%9C%E7%B4%A2&meta=&aq=f
You'll see this reference:
http://www.sport.gov.cn/show_info.php?n_id=14342
Of course it's not there, but in comes the wayback machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/20070630205138/http://www.sport.gov.cn/show_info.php?n_id=14342
This is an absolutely amazing find by Ronald. What you're seeing above is a document which was removed from the Chinese government server www.sport.gov.cn, listing He Kexin's birthday as 1994-1-1, saved in The Internet Archive (last link). The Internet Archive is a U.S. based non-profit organization which collaborates with the Smithsonian and the Library of Congress in its mission to perform historical web document preservation. This is just one more document source to pile on top of Google, Google.cn and Baidu. Take a look at the Google Translated version of the Internet Archive's copy of this document, and try to look up He Kexin's age for yourself: Link
-Stryde
Grace Xiong said...
I am a Chinese girl.After scanning your articles,I must say I take my hat off to you,for your spirits and efforts to find a truth.Many many Chinese are supporting your behavior.The olympic should not be cheated!But there is one thing I have to tell you (after seeing some comments on your blog..) ,China isn't as some dear westerners'thinking that she is a autocratic, no-human-rights country.She is a great and magic country,and her people are very kind. Her people have the freedom to say whatever they want. People like you will get many respects here and Chinese government will not do someting bad to a person who is praiseworthy. I am at home now(you can check my ip,I am in Hangzhou,Zhejiang province),I can surf the internet ,scan your article,leave my comment just as all of you,it may be another truth people should accept. Thank you all the same ,for what efforts you have made for a better China!
Grace's post speaks for itself. -StrydeWhat now?
I believe the media wave has at last crested. From here, hopefully, I can continue to focus again on this research and where it leads.
34 comments:
I am trying to figure out what the issue is here - there where other gymnasts competing whose on screen ages were shown as 15?
Is it bad hat the 'best in the world' ended up being 14 year olds?
How is is cheating, having a younger less experienced gymnast there?
It is cheating because there are advantages for under 15 of age.
Several news article mentions this:
"Younger gymnasts are considered to have an advantage because they are more flexible and are likely to have an easier time doing the tough skills the sport requires. They also aren't as likely to have a history of injuries or fear of failure."
"
What's so wrong with putting underage gymnasts on the floor? It's the rare sport in which extreme youth is a clear advantage. Nadia Comaneci was 14 when she scored perfect 10s and won her five gold medals for Romania in 1976, before the age requirement was raised in the interest of protecting the health of the athletes. Younger athletes are more flexible, don't yet fight their center of gravity and can throw their bodies through the air almost weightlessly. He, just 4 foot 8 and 73 pounds, soared through the air with the ease of a small bird.
"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/08/22/AR2008082201782.html?hpid=topnews
If there were no age limit, Nastia would be able to compete last Olympics too and her youth would give her an advantage then. But US plays by the rules. Besides, we don't have a reason to cheat. Nastia performed beautifully!
The most recent news says that the Chinese are providing more "proof" these girls are 16. This proof comes in the form of further "documents"(anyone in the Chinese government have a laser jet printer and a lamanating machine handy?). My point is, the Chinese goverment could spit out "documents" until every tree on earth was gone and it would not mean a thing. Most Americans and others around the world are going to think these girls were too young, based on the information Stryde and others have found on the net that was posted years prior to these olympics.
One fact is undeniable to me in all this: Either the Chinese were allowing these girls to "cheat" back then when the young ages were posted and were "fake" or they "cheated" in these olympics and the old ages were "fake." Either way, it was wrong.
Lastly, I find it laughable that "a passport from your home country is proof of anything, when the passport can help your home country win." Under this ludacris rule, why don't we just fake passports for all of our "professional" athletes, say they're someone else that just closely resembles the "pro," and win all the medals?
The Olympics are more broken now than ever.
I commend your work,
C. Reagan Smith
Its kind of simple , it has be found that younger gymnasts have less to loose on a psychological scale of things , as you get older a genetic transformation occurs known as "nerves" , thats why younger children normally if healthy are not affraid of going out and doing something no matter if you do it or fail. That part covers the Cheating as you have a unfair advantage in the playing field , now the main reason why the IOC Changed the Rules multiple Times is for Health Related Issues such has Bone Damage , Liver Damage and Brain Damage , you have to remember you are not fully grown until roughly 17/21 depending on the person the avge is something like 18 i think , but you can wiki that up i guess. from 1981 until 2006/7 there was a big changes in Gymnastics as the IOC changed a number of times the Ages from 14 to 15 , then 15 to 16 so If this Gymnast is 14 then not only are the Gymnasts breaking Rule II(06) but Also Rule I(81) , The Question that is being asked is can we trust a country that is offering (Government Issued Papers) that is more bent on Country Pride than Olympic Pride and Truth ; how can we "trust" a nation that can not be "frank" about its own sporting competitors representing unity , removing documentation that was clearly there , in a number of location , places and dates not all of them can be false or a mistake ?
@Paul
If a gymnast is turning 16 on the year of competition, then it is all right.
Also, it's besides the point the reason for the rule (which is younger gymnasts are more flexible). The point is the rule was broken, creating an unfair competitive advantage. If one wants to lower or eliminate the age requirement, it would be applied to future competitions to maintain fairness. not in the middle of one.
Paul,
The issue is that gymnasts have to turn 16 the year of the Olympics. Its a rule put in place several years ago to protect the health and safety of the athletes. Pushing young athletes in this level of competition increases their chance of serious injury and the rigorous training interferes with their growth.
Also, as far as women's gymnastics, younger girls are considered to have a competitive advantage which makes this unfair for the girls that waited until they were of the legal age to complete
It's against the rules. You have to be at least 16 in the calendar year of the olympics you compete. This is a gymnastics specific rule created by it's governing body.
I am not sure what the reasoning is for the rule nor is that relevant.
since so much fuss caused from your original post, if internet is any viable source, or information from chinese government or organizations can be considered as reliable.
nevertheless, here is an interesting explanation offers a different perspective of the story why the excel sheet u dug up might be faked but her reported age to IOC might be closer to truth.
it is common for coaches to falsify players age in many kinds sports for an obvious reason, the reward it brings. the interesting clue lies how He Ke xin got into the national team. she was picked because her win on uneven bars during the 6th chinese city games which was held in 2007. what is her birthday then? the registry says 1994/1/1. this is similar to what u have found. as the third sheet u found was the exchange list between provincial sports bureau. however here lies a problem, there is a rule of the 6th chinese city game, says that the woman gymnasts that born between 1994/1/1 and 1996/12/31 are eligible for the apparatus event, and 2 gymnasts born between 1993/1/1 and 1993/12/31 are allowed to participate in the team event. If there is an age dispute, the latter birthday of previous national sports registry would be considered as the correct one. He kexing was unknown prior to this 2007 chinese city game, and she was nowhere close to the national team. Her coach's priority was to let she be eligible for national competition instead of international competition. (As she is not a national team yet) In this case, when the Wuhan sports bureau which is the host city (as u probably guessed from olympics, they also want plenty of golds), loaned He kexin from Beijing sports bureau in the late 2005 and got her registered in 2006. Under what age? Have a guess, naturally 1994/1/1.
These are as shown on what you have found. The registry in 2005 for the year of 2006, in 2006 for the year 2007, and the exchange list dated back in Jan 2006 for the city games.
The probability of winning is much higher with an slightly overaged gymnasts who have psychological edge and also more perfected in skills than her counterparts. In this case, a 15 year olds was competing with a bunch of 13 year olds. This is perhaps very true for chinese athletes, as they are usually picked from a young age around age 5. One part of the harsh training regime includes weight control and body confinement. Gymnast and divers are absolutely banned/punished with any tiny bites like chocolate, and it is very common for the coach to starve them for dinner to control their weight in turn to allow more flexibility. In this case, in this age range, 10 to 15/16 year olds, the body build is unlikely to be the decisive factor. Unless the body build is similar to Cheng Fei or Shawn Johnson. Cheng Fei has gained weight and height since 2005, where Shaw has gained weight from 2006. If your body build is like Oksana Chusovitina, yes you can still keep a hight performance when you are twice older than your competitors. For Nastia Liukin, her body build perhaps is the best but her height might be posing some problems if she grew any where higher than 1.60m.
Sorry being drifted away a bit, clearly the chinese government are very sensitive about this issue and trying to censor it. Clearly, either they lied in the chinese city games or olympics and world cups. In either cases, this requires a justification from national team or wuhan sports bureau.
I first thought it looks suspicious because she is born on the 1st of january, it looks very odd especially when u r a chinese athlete. It is very likely, the coach is trying to fit her with certain rules, which we never know.
Anyways, this olympics suppose to be a joke right? Victor Conte warned us long before it.
alcen, please contact me privately. i'd like to know who you are and how you know what you know. -stryde.hax
Hi,
The Lists (cache 1 and cache 2 in your Aug 19 original report) are no longer available. too bad I didn't save them. Could you please direct post the file you saved up earlier? I would like to study them further.
Thanks.
I don't think the following is correct according to AlcenL
"..........there is a rule of the 6th chinese city game, says that the woman gymnasts that born between 1994/1/1 and 1996/12/31 are eligible for the apparatus event, and 2 gymnasts born between 1993/1/1 and 1993/12/31 are allowed to participate in the team event........."
On the contrary, based on an article I found (in Chinese), there indeed was an age restriction for the 6th Chinese City Games held in October, 2007). Those lady gymnasts who were between age 13 and 15 were eligible for the 6th Chinese City Games. (htp://www.chinamil.com.cn/site1/xwpdxw/2007-10/30/content_999606.htm). There was no need for the local officials to falsify He's age to take part in the 6th Chinese City Games because she would be 15 if her birthday were 1/1/1992
This was the official conclusion remarks of the Head Administrator of the Chinese National Sport Administration presented at the meeting held at the end of the 6th Chinese City Games to the participating commeettee members. He described the achievements of the Games, ... etc. In it, he made a remark about He's age, 13. ".... 13岁的体操高低杠选手何可欣出色地完成了“李娅空翻”的全套动作，战胜了刚刚获得世锦赛季军的国手杨伊琳，显示出了较高水平 ...."
The source: http://tianyavip.blog.hexun.com/22315183_d.html
http://www.sport.gov.cn/n16/n33193/n33208/n33433/n33673/144366.html
The link shows the general rules governing the 6th Chinese City Games published in 2006. It did say the age limitation for those lady gymnasts borne between 1/1/1994 to 12/31/1996, just like what alcen claimed.
However, a later version of the governing rules showed a different age limitation. It's eligible for those lady gymnasts who were borne between 1/1/1992 to 12/31/1994.
http://www.chinasmile.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2543462
Unlike the previous governing rules for the City Games, this later version was not a "draft"（草案）.
Th evidence is right in front of everyone's eyes. He Kexin is underaged. The medals are not rightfully hers. Something has to be done to correct this huge mistake !
Stryde, I hope you do talk to alcen. You have a lot to learn about culture and record keeping in other countries. Birthdays are not always exact dates, government recorded and fastidiously tracked, as in the US. For many in China birthdays are symbolic, and sometimes the date listed has to do with a lucky number, or a favorite day, rather than an actual date of birth. Would it surprise you to know that in China, millions of people all celebrate their birthdays together at Chinese New Year? Thus my extreme skepticism when I see her birthday being on that most lucky of days, January 1. You have created an international incident with a google search that doesn't really prove anything. In fact, all I can see is that Ms. He was probably born on 1/1/1994 "at the latest" - you have firmly established the high water mark of seaweed on the beach. She likely was born earlier (I would guess sometime in 1993), since Chinese usually pick the lucky day "after" their birth to celebrate.
In response to Grace Xiong's statement that she is free to do whatever she likes on the internet as a Chinese citizen; can she say the same of Tibetan internetters? I doubt it very much.
Alcen, ur explanation is quite interesting. But, it doesn't show that "she is not underage". Instead, what is shows is "she may not be underage". It is actually very difficult to prove and satisfy everyone if she was eligible to participate or not. Even if she is eligible, people wont trust it because Chinese government are capable of faking any document as a proof of her age.
I think, Chinese government is a victim of its own deeds that has created such a bad image of itself. No one would trust even if they are right. Or may be, He Kenix is really underage!! No one knows!!
"You have created an international incident with a google search that doesn't really prove anything. In fact, all I can see is that Ms. He was probably born on 1/1/1994 "at the latest" - you have firmly established the high water mark of seaweed on the beach."
Andy, do you really believe this? The issue of the actual ages of the Chinese gymnasts is secondary to political issues of censorship and intellectual fraud by Chinese authorities. There has been a concerted and deliberate attempt by the Chinese to permanently eliminate embarrassing Internet reports and, much worse, they have attempted to alter primary sources, such as newspaper reports and government registries. This is 1984 Orwellian Big Brother acting in real time.
I do agree that the January 1 birthdate of He is suspicious, but if your explanation is true why haven't the Chinese used it? It would be a little embarrassing, but better embarrassment than being outed for cheating by fraud.
How can anybody either justify and/or give a wink to a deliberate attempt to rewrite history by altering primary sources? The Chinese would love to alter primary sources about the Dalai Lama to show he isn't really Tibetan. Democracy and freedom can only flourish if attempts by governments to manipulate the past for their present benefit are vigorously challenged. We all lose when Big Brother wins. Stryde Hax should be complimented for his sleuthing on behalf of free speech and truth.
Actually this proves the Chinese lied about her age somewhere along the way. If she was born in 1993 that would still make her too young to compete at the Olympics. If she was born in 1992 or before then I don't think she would choose January 1st 1994 as her birthday.
Also this is about fair competition and your REAL birthday should be required.
Keep up the good work Stryde!
Grace's comments are typical. China is open to internet freedom as long as it does not pose a threat to the government or the "moral decency" of China. Violating these results in blocked websites and big-brother monitoring. My friends have been monitored and turned-in because they wrote emails with key words in them (related to the riots earlier this year). Grace probably doesn't know what she can't see because, well, she can't see it. Living in China and America makes the censorship incredibly apparent and very annoying.
The Chinese sports records are evidence that the birthdates in the passports are false. Yes, it's possible that both birthdates given are false. Nevertheless this evidence questions the credibility of the dates in the passports.
Andy has offered as circumstantial evidence a Chinese custom of using a fake birthdate to show that the birthdates on the sports registration lists are false. But the sports registration lists are direct evidence contradicting the passports.
Let's say hypothetically, many birthdates in China are false. Then as a practical matter much of the evidence offered to prove a birthdate will be false. Nevertheless the contradictory evidence is rightly offered to disprove the evidence previously offered in the form of passports.
So if one accepts the premise, most Chinese birthdates are false, therefore all Chinese documents regarding birthdates lack credibility, we are back to square one, for the passports have also lost credibility.
Stryde,
Have you checked into the other gymnasts' ages? That registration list looked pretty comprehensive, so I guess the rest of the team members should have been on there somewhere as well - but I have no idea what the Chinese characters for their names are.
It might also be worth checking out some of the divers. I think the same age rule applies, and it seems kind of suspicious to me that Chen Ruolin and Wang Xin (who won gold and bronze in the 10m platform event on Thursday) are both listed on the Beijing Olympics website as having birthdays in the second half of 1992 (i.e., they were only 15 at the start of the Games, but turning 16 in this Olympic year). Wang in particular only looks about 12 or 13 at most.
This link is deleted.
This was the official conclusion remarks of the Head Administrator of the Chinese National Sport Administration presented at the meeting held at the end of the 6th Chinese City Games to the participating commeettee members. He described the achievements of the Games, ... etc. In it, he made a remark about He's age, 13. ".... 13岁的体操高低杠选手何可欣出色地完成了“李娅空翻”的全套动作，战胜了刚刚获得世锦赛季军的国手杨伊琳，显示出了较高水平 ...."
The source: http://tianyavip.blog.hexun.com/22315183_d.html
August 22, 2008 10:07 PM
The link for the governing rules for the 6th National City Games is a link posted in the forum. But the link has been deleted, of course. However, the poster did post a copy of the governing rules in his post (see below)
The link to the forum: http://www.chinasmile.net/forums/showthread.php?p=2543462
The link to the governing rules (deleted):
http://www.wuhan2007.org.cn/content.jsp?pid=52&id=67
The copy of the governing rules for the 6th National City Games (not a draft):
中华人民共和国第六届城市运动会竞赛规程总则
时间：2006-04-10
举办第六届全国城市运动会是为了发现和培养优秀运动后备人才，为2008年奥运会锻炼队伍，促进我国备战2012年奥运会的运动队梯队建设，推动城市体育事业的发展。运动会要勤俭节约，赛出风格，赛出水平，为我国体育事业的发展和社会主义精神文明、物质文明建设作出贡献。
一、竞赛日期和地点：
2007年10月19日至28日在湖北省武汉市举行。
二、竞赛项目：
游泳（跳水）、射箭、田径、羽毛球、篮球、皮划艇、自行车、击剑、足球、体操（蹦床）、女子手球、女子曲棍球、柔道、赛艇、帆板、射击、垒球、乒乓球、跆拳道、网球、排球、举重、国际式摔跤、武术（套路、散打）。
报名不足6个参加单位的项目将不列为正式比赛项目。
三、参加单位：
（一）石家庄市、唐山市、保定市、秦皇岛市、太原市、大同市、阳泉市、呼和浩特市、包头市、沈阳市、大连市、长春市、吉林市、四平市、哈尔滨市、齐齐哈尔市、大庆市、南京市、连云港市、南通市、无锡市、杭州市、宁波市、温州市、台州市、金华市、绍兴市、嘉兴市、合肥市、阜阳市、马鞍山市、福州市、厦门市、南昌市、济南市、青岛市、烟台市、淄博市、滨州市、郑州市、平顶山市、武汉市、长沙市、广州市、深圳市、珠海市、汕头市、湛江市、南宁市、北海市、海口市、成都市、绵阳市、德阳市、贵阳市、昆明市、玉溪市、拉萨市、西安市、延安市、咸阳市、兰州市、西宁市、银川市、乌鲁木齐市、石河子市、北京市海淀区、北京市顺义区、天津市北辰区、天津市塘沽区、上海市浦东新区、上海市闵行区、重庆市渝中区。
（二）香港特别行政区、澳门特别行政区、台湾省是否参加第六届全国城市运动会，将根据其意愿再定。
（三）各参加单位必须有3个（含3个）项目或12名（含12名）（不包括田径、游泳等个别项目指定的基数）运动员获得决赛资格的城市方可组成代表团参加开、闭幕式。否则，只能组队参加单项比赛，不组成代表团。
四、关于运动员资格：
（一）中华人民共和国公民。
（二）经医务部门检查证明身体健康合格。
（三）关于运动员注册规定
运动员必须按照《关于施行〈全国运动员注册与交流管理办法（试行）〉的通知》（体竞字[2003]82号）的规定进行注册，持有国家体育总局颁发的《全国体育竞赛运动员注册证》参加比赛，其代表资格以2007年度注册期（2006年12月1日至2007年1月31日）内注册的代表单位为准。注册在省、自治区、直辖市的运动员在明确了第六届全国城市运动会具体代表单位（必须是运动员注册的省、自治区、直辖市所辖的城市或区）的前提下，可凭此注册证参加第六届全国城市运动会，不须变更注册到具体城市（或直辖市的区）。
（四）关于运动员交流规定
1、以运动员2005年度注册期（2004年12月1日至2005年1月31日）内注册的代表单位为依据，凡是改变代表单位参加第六届全国城市运动会的，都按照第六届全国城市运动会交流运动员对待。
2、第十届全国运动会进行交流的运动员，根据协议规定，如果在2006年度或2007年度返回原注册单位，则其不按第六届全国城市运动会交流运动员对待。
3、第六届全国城市运动会交流运动员必须符合《关于施行〈全国运动员注册与交流管理办法（试行）〉的通知》（体竞字[2003]82号）的规定。同时还要符合以下规定：
2003年1月1日至国家体育总局正式批准运动员交流之前，凡获得过各项目奥运会、世界锦标赛、世界杯总决赛、全国锦标赛、全国冠军赛（没有全国锦标赛或全国冠军赛名称的项目，将视各项目不同情况确定相同级别的比赛名称）前8名（含第8名）的运动员不能进行交流；其他运动员可以进行交流，但不能协议计分。
4、国家体育总局审核运动员交流协议的时间为两次。各代表团须按照《关于施行〈全国运动员注册与交流管理办法（试行）〉的通知》（体竞字[2003] 82号）的规定办理运动员交流手续，并分别于2005年10月31日前和2006年10月31日前将双方协议报送国家体育总局竞技体育司和相关运动项目管理中心。经审核，国家体育总局将于2005年12月31日和2006年12月31日前两次正式公布第六届全国城市运动会运动员交流名单，各代表团依据交流名单和相关注册要求办理具体注册手续。
（五）台湾省有关城市、香港特别行政区、澳门特别行政区的运动员的参赛资格另定。
（六）运动员年龄规定
项 目
运 动 员 年 龄 规 定
游 泳
男子： 1989年1月1日以后出生
1987年1月1日至1988年12月31日出生可报 2人
女子： 1990年1月1日以后出生
1988年1月1日至1989年12月31日出生可报2人
跳 水
1990年1月1日以后出生
射 箭
1988年1月1日以后出生
田 径
1987年1月1日至1990年12月31日出生
羽毛球
1988年1月1日以后出生
1986年1月1日至1987年12月31日出生可报男女各不多于2人
垒 球
1986年1月1日以后出生
1984年1月1日至1985年12月31日出生可报3人
篮 球
男子： 1987年1月1日以后出生
1986年1月1日至12月31日出生可报2人
女子： 1988年1月1日以后出生
1987年1月1日至12月31日出生可报2人
皮划艇
1989年1月1日以后出生
自行车
1988年1月1日至1991年12月31日出生
击 剑
1988年1月1日以后出生
足 球
男子： 1991年1月1日至1992年12月31日出生
女子： 1989年1月1日以后出生
1986年1月1日至1988年12月31日出生可报5人
体 操
男子： 1990年1月1日至1993年12月31日出生。
女子： 1992年1月1日至1994年12月31日出生。
蹦 床
1991年1月1日至1994年12月31日出生
女 子
手 球
1989年1月1日以后出生
1987年1月1日至1988年12月31日出生可报2人
女 子
曲棍球
1987年1月1日以后出生
1985年1月1日至1986年12月31日出生可报3人
柔 道
1987年1月1日至1990年12月31日出生
赛 艇
1989年1月1日至1992年12月31日出生
射 击
1984年1月1日以后出生
乒乓球
1987年1月1日以后出生
跆拳道
1990年1月1日至1993年12月31日出生
网 球
男子： 1989年1月1日以后出生
女子： 1991年1月1日以后出生
排 球
1987年1月1日以后出生
举 重
男子： 1987年1月1日以后出生
女子： 1987年1月1日以后出生
国际式摔跤
男子： 1987年1月1日至1991年12月31日出生
女子： 1989年1月1日至1992年12月31日出生
帆 板
1988年1月1日以后出生
武术套路
1990年1月1日至1994年12月31日出生
武术散打
1990年1月1日至1991年12月31日出生
Andy..
I'm curious about your comment:
"For many in China birthdays are symbolic, and sometimes the date listed has to do with a lucky number, or a favorite day, rather than an actual date of birth. Would it surprise you to know that in China, millions of people all celebrate their birthdays together at Chinese New Year? Thus my extreme skepticism when I see her birthday being on that most lucky of days, January 1."
I don't know much about the Chinese symbolism behind choosing birthdays, but I do know that the chinese new year is not the same as our own, on January 1st. It seems more likely that that date was chosen because it was the earliest possible choice to make so that He would turn 16 in the year of the olympics. I'm interested to know any other thoughts on this..but Andy, you do make good points.
Fédération Internationale de
Might be good to start pressuring the source directly. With so much mounting evidence, IOC and IGF are retarded to still accept Chinese explanation.
By the way, lot of people are saying "it is unfair to the USA which played fair", but please note it is unfair to "ALL countries that participated".
Gymnastique
Av. de la Gare 12
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t: +41 21 321 5510
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e: info@fig-gymnastics.org
There is one more thing to point out in Alcen's comment.
It is very unlikely that He's eligibility to participate in 6th Chinese city games would have been verified only by looking at the recodrs held with the Wuhan's sports bureau. The Chinese city game use to be a very big event in China and the authorities would have required all the credentials, such as including her birth certificate or passport, to verify her age properly rather than simply relying on records from Wuhan's sports bureau. It seems very reasonable because that time, He was not famous at all. So, it contradicts your conclusion that the cached document, dating back to 2006, what Stryde Hax found is not a credible source.
Since He could participate in the 6th Chinese city games with all her credentials checked properly, He's age recorded in the 6th-Chinese-city-game's document is also correct and that means that He is actually underage to participate in the Olympic.
This leaves two possibilities.
1. The cultural aspect that she chose her birthday to celebrate on a lucky day (1st January) and therefore, she falsified her birthday herself while registering with the government in her very childhood. If so, she is born most likely sometime in 1993, NOT in 1992: still underage.
Besides, Chinese people don't consider 1st January that much a lucky day. If you know Chinese culture, Chinese new year (sometime in February) is the luckiest day. Why didn't she choose the Chinese new year instead?!
2. Lets say that she is really born in 1992 and for whatever reason, she registered herself as if she born in 1994. If so, there doesn't exist any document (even with the Chinese government) what states that she is actually a 16 year old. So, where does the Chinese government is actually bringing all these documents from? (Cheating?!)
In any case, she should have not been allowed to participate in the Olympic.
Many of you have asked questions about the significance of January 1 for Chinese. My wife is from mainland China. The date we picked for our wedding? January 1 - the luckiest day of the year. Her mom never had an actual birthday, so when she was in her 60's, she picked her favorite daughter's birthday to celebrate as her own. Millions of Chinese have no birthday they celebrate, they simply give gifts to each other during Chinese New Year, and congratulate each other on being "one year older". Prosperity and luck are incredibly important in China - colors and numbers have enormous symbolic value. Any date that starts with 1/1 is very lucky. If you give money to your friend, it is much better to give 999 RMB than 1,000. Gifts should be wrapped in special red paper, or yellow for certain occasions, but you would never use the pale pinks and blues we use for some gift wrapping in the US.
As soon as I saw Ms. He's birthday was either 1/1/92 or 1/1/94, I figured that neither one of them was likely to be true. Although most of the Chines I know live in very large cities like Beijing, and the younger people know their real birthdays, you should keep in mind that hundreds of millions still live on rural farms. While farming is becoming more modern (lots of fancy internet capable cell phones, laptops, cars, motorcycles, nationwide broadband internet, etc...), they also have more kids and are more traditional in their culture. The farming communities do not have to follow the 1 child rule, so they have bigger families (by the way - the only penalty for the city folks on the one child rule is higher taxes - you don't really have to kill your extra kids!! I've met several people with more than one child who were paying the extra taxes).
There is no specific date for the Chinese New Year. It follows the Chinese calendar, which is different from ours, and usually falls sometime in February each year. It is also celebrated over a period of a couple of weeks, not just on one day like in the US. If you wanted to pick a lucky day to celebrate your birthday, you couldn't get any better than January 1.
I'll end my comments here. I'm really no expert on Chinese culture, just wanted to pass on a few things I've learned over the years. If anyone finds errors with my comments, feel free to correct them. I think Ms. He might well be underage, but I think you will find that the documents that turned up in the google and baidu searches were red herrings, and won't really answer your questions as well as you expected.
Andy,
You may very well be right that the 1.1 birthdate is false. But I wouldn't consider these documents to be red herrings. The month and day are less important, we are far more concerned about the year. You have made the valuable point that these documents lack credibility, but this information is itself very important as possible evidence that someone has lied and published a false birth year (or that the same inaccurate birth year was published numerous times by the Chinese government and media), whether the false birth year was 1992, 1994, or both.
We are only searching for pieces of a puzzle as is the case with any investigation. If the documents lack credibility, then perhaps medical exams are the best available evidence. But if no doubt is cast on the credibility of the passport information, that evidence will stand.
What alcen said can be deduced by anybody who reads Chinese. I have reached the same conclusion from reading the various Chinese documents, including rules for the 2007 Wuhan Intercity Games. The Wuhan games were for discovering new talents and therefore had strict age limits. Female gymnasts must be born between 1/1/1994 and 12/31/1996 to be eligible for individual events. Cheating on age is rampant in Chinese sports. Rules for the 6th Intercity Games has one clause regarding age; the clause said in case of age dispute, the earliest registered birth date shall be used. The earliest registered age for He Kexin (when she was still with the Beijing sports bureau) was the 2005 registration (which showed that it was her first registration). On that registration He's birth date was also 1/1/1994. By the way, on the 2005 registration, Yang Yilin's birth date was given as 8/26/1993 with the word "confirmed" in the "Note" column.
Here is an explanation about Chinese age. Traditionally and still in the countryside, people don't know their actual birth dates. By convention, one is one year old at birth and grows one year at Chinese New Year (which usually happens in Late January or early February). This traditional age is now referred to as one's "virtual (xu)" age. One's real (shi) age is calculated the western way. One's virtual age may be up to 2 years older than one's real age. In the case of He Kexin, suppose she was born on 1/1/1994, she was 1 at birth and became 2 on 2/14/1994, which was Chinese New Year in 1994. So her virtual age would be 16.
Many athletes come from poor rural areas of China because they are willing to "eat bitterness" as we say in Chinese and train hard. Rural people don't have household registration papers, no birth certificates, and often don't know their actual birth dates and they go by their virtual age. It's possible that in order to fit He's virtual age to the western calendar, she was originally given the birth year 1994, but then to make her eligible for the Olympics, authorities changed the year to 1992.
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bravo stryde...it's nice to see that there are still watchdogs out there looking out for the little guy and keeping this messed-up world honest. keep up the good work
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