The Thrill is gone: How China has tarnished the Olympic games

I've seen the most pure example of athletic accomplishment destroyed by madness and corruption, decomposing from the inside-out due to rampant nationalism and pure dishonesty.

Or, the Chinese are lying, cheating bastards. Either way you put it, something is rotten in the state of Beijing (which, I learned the other day, is pronounced with a "J" as in "juice," not "G" as in "gigli.")

I am referring to the female Gymnastics scandal, a little rumble of a story that is now gaining more exposure by the day. And that is good, as the more pressure mounts, the more incentive the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has to further investigate the affair.

Not that they will discover any newly incriminating evidence, though, as the proof is already in the chocolate pudding of descent that China has lied and cheated to claim Olympic gold in female gymnastics.

He Kexin, a brilliant young gymnast whose performance on the uneven bars was a major contributor to the Chinese team's victory in the team all around, is 14 years old, a full two years younger than the new standard for Olympic gymnasts. How do I know such shocking information? Why, the Chinese government! See for yourself:

In case you can't make it out, the second red-lined box clearly states that Kexin is 14. The source? A China Daily article from May, 2008 on Kexin (remember, the government controls the media in China).

Here is a clearer image.

Now, let us fast-forward to the present day. The China Daily archives all of their articles on the internet, and the aforementioned article, "Uneven queen the new star in town," is available. Except something is different this time around...see for yourself:

Again, consult the second red box. This time, Kexin's age has mysteriously changed from 14 to 16...

But wait, there's more! Here is a 2007 article from the GOVERNMENT-RUN news agency Xinhua that writes of some 13 year old gymnast named He Kexin:

Translation: The thirteen-year-old He Kexin, from Wuhan, met opponent Yang Yilin, who is on the National Team. Amid cheers from her hometown audience, the young girl excellently executed the full set of moves in the finals, and just beat out Yang Yilin, who already had high scores. Lu Shanzhen, the General Coach of the National Gymastic team, also applauded her performance.

But wait, there's MORE! This is an official roster for City Games, a sporting competition in which Kexin competed. This was published January 27, 2006, and again, it was from a government source, this time the Chengdu government. Look at what the roster lists as Kexin's birthday:

A clearer copy.

I could go on, as there are even more examples of the schizophrenic age of the ever-enigmatic He Kexin.* But, I think you get the point. The Chinese government has blatantly, bald-faced lied about Kexin's age, falsifying her passports in the process (which were, conveniently, manufactured in February of this year). While the immediate repercussions of this disaster are obvious--a stripping of the gold medal from China and an awarding to the silver-place United States team--this sad event represents the increasingly dangerous nationalism that seems to be taking place with China and the Olympics games.

Look, I understand that the Olympics are never the kind of event that inspires countries to hold hands and sing "We are the World." The Olympics are fast, frenetic bouts of athleticism, where the most dazzling of athletes compete for the most prestigious of awards: gold, silver, and shiny bronze medals and an added level of international respect for that country.

Even with this obscene level of competition, though, there is still a level of respect among the countries, a mutual disregard for petty political differences and a focus on good, CLEAN sportsmanship. China has proven itself below this standard.

And this is something that worries me, that the extreme nationalism that has come to define China is rearing its ugly head in the supposed purity of the Olympics.

In preparation for the games, Chinese authorities scour the countryside, personally choosing athletes of impeccable talent to star in the future Olympic games. If athletes are "lucky" enough to be chosen, that is effectively the end of their lives as they know it, as the athletes are then taken from their homes and train full-time under government supervision.

And the program has worked. At this moment, China is second only to the United States on total medal count, boasting a whopping 35 gold medals. At this moment, we are seeing the new rivalry of this era mature to sporting events. USA v China for global dominance.

Yet it's a shame at how it's being done, that a country's leaders can be so power-hungry that they would destroy, abduct, and lie to succeed. Enjoy the Olympics while they last, ladies and germs, but beware the gilded tint.



*And Kexin, I should point out, is not the first underage gymnast that China has used. Yang Yun, a Chinese gymnast who won bronze in the uneven bars routine of the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, later admitted in a television interview that she was only 14 at the time. And guess what? Her passport that was issued for the games said she was 16!