The Chinese will be stripped of their gold medal.

[Solon]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

She is still a cheater, yes.

But of the 3, she is the most honest cheater.

Bonds and Clemens continue to lie.

it is better to admit it under penalty of punishment than to not admit it at all (assuming that the admission is truthful)

Yeah, I wasn't really disagreeing. They all three suck.

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

I need to know the reason for the rule. I'm assuming it's to protect young children from overzealous coaches. If it's generally accepted that being a tween is actual beneficial to Olympic performance then perhaps I could change my mind. I can't imagine any sport where that would be true though.

I dont know that the reason has been fully articulated this past week.

But the entire US coaching staff is up in arms about the ages of the gymnasts, so there must be a reason for the rule.

The margins of victory were so slight in these competitions that you wonder whether there really is an advantage or disadvantage.

It isn't like if a college baseball team were to play a Little baseball team and beat them by 30 runs.

[fusnik11]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

I dont know that the reason has been fully articulated this past week.

But the entire US coaching staff is up in arms about the ages of the gymnasts, so there must be a reason for the rule.

The margins of victory were so slight in these competitions that you wonder whether there really is an advantage or disadvantage.

It isn't like if a college baseball team were to play a Little baseball team and beat them by 30 runs.

The only explanation I have read stated that the advantage was a mental advantage. The 20 year old US Sacramone messed up because she understood the magnitude of the olympics while the 13 year old He wasn't mature enough to wrap her mind around the magnitude of the event.

I laughed. In every physical competition experience is a positive save gymnastics.

[SteelBlue]

Originally Posted by TripletDaddy

The margins of victory were so slight in these competitions that you wonder whether there really is an advantage or disadvantage.

Be honest with yourself for a second here DDD. Can you imagine the thought "man, I would have won if it hadn't been for Hannah Montana there and her eleventeen year old band of thugs" actually crossing your mind? The Olympics are about putting the best athletes in competition with each other and seeing who comes out on top. I understand there's a reason girls under 16 can't compete and I can see that costing China their win. But, as an athlete I want to know I beat the best. That gold would never feel good to me because I'd know I got it on a technicality after losing in head to head competition.

[il Padrino Ute]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Not if they'd lost to us head to head but then later found out that we had some Junior High aged ringers on the team during the game.

I dunno. They are a BCS team and the BCS as an organization needs to do whatever it can to continue to convince the rest of us of their superiority.

[Flystripper]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Be honest with yourself for a second here DDD. Can you imagine the thought "man, I would have won if it hadn't been for Hannah Montana there and her eleventeen year old band of thugs" actually crossing your mind? The Olympics are about putting the best athletes in competition with each other and seeing who comes out on top. I understand there's a reason girls under 16 can't compete and I can see that costing China their win. But, as an athlete I want to know I beat the best. That gold would never feel good to me because I'd know I got it on a technicality after losing in head to head competition.

pretty much

[TripletDaddy]

Originally Posted by SteelBlue

Be honest with yourself for a second here DDD. Can you imagine the thought "man, I would have won if it hadn't been for Hannah Montana there and her eleventeen year old band of thugs" actually crossing your mind? The Olympics are about putting the best athletes in competition with each other and seeing who comes out on top. I understand there's a reason girls under 16 can't compete and I can see that costing China their win. But, as an athlete I want to know I beat the best. That gold would never feel good to me because I'd know I got it on a technicality after losing in head to head competition.

no, i totally agree with you.

This is why I always found the "No NBA" players rule to be a joke. Why cant NBA players play for the gold medal? Very doubtful that the previous medalists in olympic hoops (US and otherwise) were the best in the world.

I am just saying that regardless, China appears to have broken the rules, which is lame.

[UtahDan]

Just to be clear, I never suggested that the IOC would investigate or is incentivized to investigate. I just think someone will spill the beans at some point and it will fall in their laps. At that point they will have no choice if the evidence is credible.

[ERCougar]

The reason for the rule is to protect children's bodies from the rigors of competitive gymnastics. It's a HUGE advantage to be younger and smaller, especially in the uneven bars, which is the event where the Chinese made the biggest gain (and where there is good evidence that all three gymnasts were well underage). If you doubt it's an advantage--think of Nadia Comaneci. 1976 - Gold medal with 7 perfect 10's at age 14. 1980 - Silver medal, no perfect 10's, age 18. Still good, but nothing like her 14-yo performance.

[TripletDaddy]

Take that, cheaters! He Kexin, you are dead meat.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/spo...cle4583174.ece

This must be what the narrator felt like in The Tell-Tale Heart.