Cheaters!

[Tempest]

There are very strict labor laws regarding child actors. That is why twins are often sought after.

Very different from a government that takes a child away by force.

 

[dailydriver]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
At least in the past, gymnasts were frequently given hormones to stunt their growth and development.


I remember hearing about the Russians, and maybe even the Chinese getting caught red handed/admitting to the practice of giving their female gymnasts 'pituitary blockers' and such??

Originally Posted By: moribundman
The Chinese team did look very young, with the one with the missing canine sticking out as looking like a child. Now, Asians do tend to look a lot younger and they are commonly much smaller than Westerners, but even then and older teen shouldn't really look like a child.


Yes. My girlfriend is native to central, mainland China (although a naturalized U.S. citizen now).
She is now almost 53 and can pass for almost HALF her age (if she wears sunglasses and the below mentioned jeans LESS THAN HALF her age!

)!!!
She can fit into her 16 year old daughter's jeans without a struggle!!
That being said, I also said to myself (upon first seeing the Sino gymnasts), "NO F'ING WAY are they 16!!!!"

Originally Posted By: moribundman
I am also not convinced that all the swimmers, who are generally tall with large feet and hands, grow from twiggy little 11 years olds into the human propellors they seem to invariably become.

Nature may well be assisted by human interference.


Yes, that is ALWAYS a possibility (sadly enough).
But at least they (the IOC) are attempting to do something about it by freezing and storing the athlete's samples for 8 years so that the detection technology can catch up with the cheater's doping tech/'advancements'.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: Tempest
There are very strict labor laws regarding child actors. That is why twins are often sought after.

Very different from a government that takes a child away by force.


Twins are often wanted when they are babies or toddlers -- as kids or adolescents not so much.

I wasn't talking about making kids work too much or at odd times. I was talking about the pressure and corruption that comes with kids being exposed to an industry that many adults can't handle. I am talking about victims who ended up as washouts or addicts, may of them dying at a young age.

 

[moribundman]

Originally Posted By: dailydriver
My girlfriend is native to central, mainland China (although a naturalized U.S. citizen now).
She is now almost 53 and can pass for almost HALF her age (if she wears sunglasses and the below mentioned jeans LESS THAN HALF her age!

)!!!


When I met my girlfriend, who is Japanese, she could have passed for 14. When we went to the movies I got a kid's ticket for her, no questions asked. 15 years later she can still pass for an 18 year old. Her young looks match my level of immaturity perfectly.

 

[Gary Allan]

As far as female swimmers go, when I was a teenager ..or as I seem to recall, most of the female swimmers where like 15 or 16 ..and few repeated as Olympic competitors. One adult, at the time of my ignorance, simply stated that they got "too developed". Most females were "one hit wonders" ...there are exceptions naturally.

This doesn't appear to be true anymore.

 

[PandaBear]

I do agree that a couple of them do look very young even compare to the typical Asian young look. Is it possible that they are really only 12-14? Maybe, if you are cherry picking over a couple billion people, or give them illegal drugs to make them stop growing since the age of 3, it is possible.


Now back to the performance. I watched the competition last night and all I can say is Alicia Sacramone's screw up cannot be blamed on the age of her opponents. Falling twice will for sure give you a hard hit in points, and part of your training is to make sure you concentrate regardless of what happen outside of your control.


That doesn't means the US team didn't do well, sometimes stuff happens and that's part of any competition. Sometimes your opponents cheat, but that doesn't means you should screw up and be affected by it.

 

[sprintman]

U.S were very good but Chinese a little more focused.

 

[drivewaytech]

Originally Posted By: moribundman
I am talking about victims who ended up as washouts or addicts, may of them dying at a young age.


or starring in reality TV shows that highlight their trainwreck of a life. I guess sometimes fame is a drug you can't put down, even if you didn't ask for it in the first place.

 

[leftlane]

Drew, it looks like they didnt prove you wrong afterall. I see my previous post and your reply to it got yanked. I got a good scolding out of it. Someone else that made a political reference in another thread will likely get their post deleted and be taken to the woodshed for it too we'll see.

 

[Drew99GT]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,408422,00.html

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: sprintman
Yanks get over it you were beaten fair and square. Failures on beam and floor routines defeated you. Not a class act whingeing about it. Move on.


I don't recall the subject being that we lost to underage gymnasts. The point is that they broke the rules. Every event has rules..including age. So you are saying that rules in events are not important?

But what do expect from a country that sends us poison toys, and up until recently (if it has stopped) killed the first child if it was a girl? Actually this rule (not being 16 y.o.) broken is quite mild..I suppose we shouldn't really complain about it.

 

[sprintman]

Where is your proof? Did you watch all the routines? (I did I'm not working so I have the luxury of watching olympics all day every day)

 

[mrsilv04]

Well, the IOC is going to take an offical look into this...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4583174.ece