Do we know if the documentation is false?
Under Age Gymnasts or Sore Losers: Did the Chinese Gymnasts Cheat?n order to compete in the Olympics a gymnast must turn 16 during the same year of the Olympics. In order to prove your age you must have a passport. The theory is that the government makes the Chinese gymnasts' passports so they can lie about their age. But Karolyi admitted that he has no proof that the Chinese gymnasts birthdays are not real. Oh well great argument there.
The most curious thing about this situation is the sudden memory loss that every American seems to have. When Yao Ming debuted in the United States Americans all over the country joked, "How could an Asian be that big! He's like the size of five Chinese men!" People joked, "Yao Ming is like Godzilla over there," making fun of not only Yao's height, but the rest of the country's lack of height.
But now that being short was actually an advantage for the Chinese there is a huge outcry that they are lying about their age.
Whatever happened to the Chinese just being small people? If the average adult male in Asia is smaller than the average adult male in America then wouldn't it make sense for the average 16-year-old girl in Asia to be smaller than the average 16-year-old girl in America? This is common sense people.
You have to remember that China picks a sport for children at a very age and enters them into that training program. Do you think they are going to pick Yao Ming to be a gymnast? No. They are going to pick tiny girls. These girls were probably chosen because they were so small. China doesn't have smaller gymnasts because they are cheaters; they have smaller gymnasts because they were smart enough to pick those girls to be gymnasts. You might not agree with how China puts young boys and girls into programs like that, but it's not cheating so that has nothing to do with this argument.
All anybody is pointing out is the advantages of being small. Yes, it's easier to do tricks when you're lighter, but there are some major disadvantages to being smaller too. When a gymnast is as light as the Chinese girls it is harder to put enough weight on the trampoline to do a good vault. Despite the disadvantage in vault the American girls only defeated the Chinese girls by 0.525 points. Smaller gymnasts also have a big disadvantage in the uneven bars because it is harder for them to reach the bars. Despite their advantage on the uneven bar the Chinese girls beat the American girls by nearly 2 full points.
I understand many people's frustration at the American girls not having won the gold medal. But please, let's put some logic into this.
And I ask this seriously: If the Chinese gymnasts were so young and small for the Olympics, how come it only became an issue after the US lost the gold? Why wasn't it made earlier? Why wasn't it made a week ago? A month ago? A year ago?
The US Olympic Gymnastics committee (or whoever) knew who the Chinese girls were who were going to be in the artistic gymnastics competition and probably saw hours of video tape on them. Why wasn't anything mentioned before?
As many are saying, it's only an issue now, because the US didn't win gold. Patriotic fervor has gotten in the way of logic and rationality.
And this isn't a shot at Americans only. This is a shot at everyone. You don't know how many times I've heard people conclude, "well, obviously Michael Phelps used some kind of steroids. How could he break every world record and win all those golds?". Little do people know that Phelps is actually that good.
I mean, if you want to believe that the Chinese are 14 or 8 or 3 years old, no one can stop you.
Mike Brown only nine-one hundrerdth's of a second off from a bronze. That SUcKED!! 
