Hacker uncovers 'proof' that Chinese gymnast is underage

[mad1]

A determined computer expert has delved into cached pages on the Internet to unearth Chinese official documents showing a gymnast who took gold, edging Britain’s Beth Tweddle into fourth place, may indeed be underage.

The latest unofficial investigation was carried out by 'Stryde', a computer security expert for the New York-based Intrepidus Group, whose site Stryde Hax revealed a detailed forensic search for Ms He’s age.

The blogger first simply tried Google, only to find that an official listing by the Chinese sports administration that had given her age could no longer be accessed. Next he tried the Google cache, only to find that Ms He’s name had been removed.

So then he tried the cache of Chinese search engine Baidu. There, he found that Baidu lists two spreadsheets in Ms He's name, both giving her date of birth as January 1, 1994 – making her 14 years and 220 days old and too young to compete at these Olympics.

The lists were compiled by the General Administration of Sport of China.

[url="http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/olympics/article4578241.ece"[/URL]

As more information comes to light the IOC will have to look into this. Looking at the picture of the girl she does not look 16.

[no1_vern]

Yes, I believe many nations are willing to cheat to win Olympic medals. It seems that the Chinese are doing no worse than other countries in this department.
Corrected link:

Hacker uncovers 'proof' that Chinese gymnast is underage - Times Online

[Atomic Rooster]

The Chinese press has also released her age in stories about her previous events leading up to the Olympics. Oddly enough, those reports can no longer be found. All that's needed for proof of birth is their passports. China has denied any accusations of them changing the birth dates on their passports by simply asking "how could we have done that when when have no control over them".

[osprey4]

Obviously, the IOC has no interest in investigating this issue, so this revelation is sort of pointless.

[Atomic Rooster]

IOC orders investigation into He Kexin's age - Yahoo! Sports

The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into the age of Chinese gymnast He Kexin, The Times of London reports. Faced with almost insurmountable evidence which suggests that He is two years younger than the birth date listed on her Chinese passport, the IOC has launched an inquiry that could result in the stripping of He's gold medals.

This news comes on the heels of another Times report that details the findings of a New York computer security expert who found official Chinese documents that list He's age as 14 years and 220 days. Mike Walker used a Chinese search engine's cache feature to find He's actual date of birth on spreadsheets from a Chinese government website. The spreadsheets were taken down off the site recently and He's name had been removed.

Assuming the IOC is committed to a real investigation and not some dog and pony show, the revelation that the Chinese government covered up the ages of gymnasts could end up being the defining moment of these Games for the host country.

[Pexster]

Maybe it's not gonna go away? I guess time will tell. I've had to turn off Olympic boxing the last few times it's been on just because the scoring is such a joke. But I digress . . . Sorry . . . .

[Bill in SD, CA]

I realize she's probably underage and the Chinese government is just being the 'Chinese government', but hey, no doubt about it she's damn good.

Other than 'it's the rules', is there any reason why a 14 year old, due to her age, has an unfair advantage in the competition?

I am not supporting the breaking of the rules by any means.

Not the girls fault if true.

Wonder what 'award' she would have been given by the Chinese government if she had said: "Thanks for forging my age but in all good conscience I won't compete knowing that I am not of the proper age."



Bill

[Chuckiechan]

Other than 'it's the rules', is there any reason why a 14 year old, due to her age, has an unfair advantage in the competition?

Yes there is.

First of all is the biological differences between children and adolescents as far as flexibility is concerned.

And a younger competitor has fewer injuries to manage. Notice all the knee bandages and things on other competitors? It's a brutal sport and definitely punishing on the body.

Last but not least: the olympic commitee made rules saying you have to be 16 years old. Nadia Cominici was a 14 year old when she swept the field. What happens is you have to turn "the right age at the right time" to be competitive. Changing the age to 18 helped equalized the advantage a 16 year old has with an 18 year old due to physiology.

Notice boys' gymnastics competitors are always late teens, early twenties? The phisiology is different for young men and boys, too.

[The Real Bingo]

She really looks young, that's for sure. But the Olympics are full of freaks who are at the tail end of the bell curve. I heard her height and weight compared to a regular 16-year-old girl in China, and she measures up more to an 11-year-old. I'm not saying if she's of-age or not, but the sport is full of physical freaks. She could be 16 and still have the body of an 11-year-old; nothing too unusual about that. But I did hear Bob Costas last night say that her passport shows her to be 16 and other paperwork says she's only 14 - or something like that.


And +1 on what Pexster said. Regardless of age, she shouldn't have won gold over Nastia Liukin in the uneven bars.

[Bill in SD, CA]

Originally Posted by The Real Bingo

And +1 on what Pexster said. Regardless of age, she shouldn't have won gold over Nastia Liukin in the uneven bars.

And I fully agree.

Bill