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Momentum, Common Sense Not on Chinese Gymnasts’ Side

Aug 23, 2008, 6:15 PM UTC

Despite the best efforts of whimsical Jacques Rogge, the â†µwhole “China â†µcheated at gymnastics” thing has not blown over. The â†µfolks who rule international gymnastics competition spent â†µtoday thoroughly investigating the age of â†µfour Chinese gymnasts, including superstar He Kexin. â†µThis after Rogge said he believed China and closed its â†µcase, and redirected his outrage at â†µthe unbelievably scandalous Usain Bolt, who would the â†µmalignant audacity to celebrate a victory. The â†µscoundrel!
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â†µTwo outside developments seem to cast clouds on China’s â†µhopes the gymnastics federation will also rule He and â†µfriends to be old enough to compete. The first: He didn’t â†µshow up to a concert she was scheduled to make an â†µappearance at Saturday night Beijing time. (That sentence â†µbelongs to Satan.) More potent: Chinese gymnastics medalist â†µYang Yun has admitted on state television she lied about her age in Sydney in 2000.
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â†µNeither note has direct relevance to the current case -- â†µeven alleged 16-year-olds have curfews, after all. But â†µyou’d have to be blind as Stevie Wonder to seriously â†µbelieve -- given all the circumstances -- there’s no chance â†µChina’s fudging documents here. Fortunately, scientists â†µhave a scientific â†µsolution not entirely dissimilar from a â†µprevious suggestion of mine.â†µ

This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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