China: How old is He Kexin?

While authorities state she is of Olympic regulation age, China Digital Times‘ Xiao Qiang looks at one of several sources that put He Kexin‘s age at around fourteen.

280 comments

  • Oh Please

    Of course everyone is going to think you are a bunch of liars, when during the opening games you have a “pretty” Asian girl sing infront of the crowd and have the “ugly” Asian girl with the voice behind a curtain just so your country looks good. You got more bad press from that than if you would have just allowed the “ugly” girl to sing face to face with the crowd. However, I do not believe it would be hard to fake any “offical” Chinese document considering that China will apprently do anything to make their country look good. There sure are a lot of Chinese athletes born on January 1, 1994.

  • Deb

    I’m saddened yet frustrated to witness what China has stooped to, apparently. Why hasn’t this been investigated? How can cheating be tolerated and yet the child continues to compete? As a 45 yr old woman who did gymnastics many years ago, I agree that a 14 yr old girl can have an advantage over a 16+ yr.

    My husband said that the uneven bar competition looked like a little girl [He Kexin] competing against a woman [Nastia]!

    The real issue is the cheating that seems to go on and it’s tolerance. It simply is unacceptable to cheat. Now I realize that this little girl’s bones haven’t been tested to prove her age, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that her age is in question for a valid reason… She simply looks 12-13 yr old.

    News clips proving her age? Make them available and pull her medals and kick her a– out of the competition. End of story.
    The country of origin is irrelevant.

    Cheaters are unacceptable, any time, any place. What kind of message do they think the world is receiving? A country based upon integrity? I certainly hope so, but it doesn’t appear to be the case.

    This is bad for for China. How can their citizens take pride in anything? It is obvious that they worked very hard to show the world how hospitable they can be. Everything is beautiful. Yet, none of that will be remembered because it will be overshadowed due to a lack of integrity.

    However, this situation is consistent with China. Think about the quality of China’s products [to quote a previous commentator, 90% of our products are from China because?] It looks like it could be nice and just as good as products made in the USA, you take a chance and buy it [because it’s cheap], but end up throwing it out because it’s really just a front for junk.

    How could anyone have expected anything more? Sad… truly sad. It was the one opportunity to change, and it’s blown.

  • Miami

    Please let’s not insult each other. The American Team lost because they were not as good as the Chinese. I was born in a communist country where athletics are made not trained. I wouldn’t doubt that the government altered the papers to show she was older. But if it is true the Chinese newspaper first ran the story then I am not so sure. Remember, China may look and act in some areas as a free (capitalism) country but they are a communist country at the end. In communist countries nothing happens by chance everything is planned. Trust me I lived. Going back to the subject of the Chinese athletic being too young. I am not a doctor and I know they are not the tallest people in the world but just look at her face. It is like a baby’s face, very soft and without any signs of puberty. As a lot of you already know, when girls become women it is a hormone rush through the body. To me she looks 12. PLEASE do not insult each other; we all have our points of view. But remember anything is possible.

  • Tomg

    Why don’t we let them have fun in what they train for all their lives just about…. so what if she is 10 or what ever… if this is what she has train for so hard and she or any other person is ready then let them compete…. what is a 50yr wanted to compete are we going to stop him or her?

    let people be china usa russia germany whoever… when it comes down to it we all bleed red. we can’t look at it from an american viewpoint all the time, this is an all country event.

    have a good day and hug a chinese a russian a german a puerto rican hug any othere cause the next time your in need it may be just one of them that comes to your aid…. and never say never.

    let’s close this topic it’s pointless unless you’re living in the stoneage

    Peace

  • chan

    We need good planning(thinking)for successful life, establishing of Goals in our life and have funs…

  • MUST SEE website that has links to articles as well as screen shots of the articles explaining when & what they say of HE KEXIN …. very interesting stuff i must say!

    http://cmp.hku.hk/2008/08/15/1177

  • Dnn

    The Chinese are definitely cheaters. I had Chinese neighbors, who enrolled their 2 kids in our school system as being about 2yrs younger than their actual ages. I know for a fact they are older because the daughter who is supposed the same age as my daughter was a toddler when my daughter was born…but now they are the same age—yeah right. This really sucks because it gives them an advantage mentally and also in sports. The son consistently does well in basketball…gee, wonder why when he’s 2yrs older than all of the rest of the kids???

    There has been proof online of He’s age, but the Chinese govt. removed all of it…again, wonder why?? Age matters a LOT in gymnastics (and figure skating) because as bodies reach puberty, changes happen that make it more difficult to do some of the maneuvers. There have been lots of stories of gymnasts, dancers, skaters, etc. all of a sudden not being able to excel as they have in the past due to bodily changes through puberty. This is why age matters in gymnastics, and especially at a global even like the Olympics!

    The Chinese govt. doesn’t care about people or about any of the spirit of the Olympics. What they care about is making China look good and making China, the country, exceed all other countries at any cost. They don’t care about He. She’s disposable as soon as her gymnastic days are up. That’s China.

  • CC

    1 shame on China IF the winner is under-aged.
    2 shame on USA IF they are accusing underage if it was not true.

    BUT MOST OF ALL why does it even matter what the age is? no one seems to mind other olympians being 15 or 14 in other sports. Isn’t this about being the best in the world? if so, then why should atheletes be excluded if they are the best of their country?

    ADMITTEDLY i do believe 2 gold medals should be awarded if atheletes tie instead of creating some realllllllllllllllly dodgy system to break the tie using some random equation.

    btw Dnn puberty lasts till 18 years of age for chicks but you don’t see the minimum age limit at 18 and yet by your standards girls minimum age should be 18 and guys at 21. oh and not all tall people are good at basketballs, some teams have a wide range of heights for their players. a tall person who can’t aim or shoot would do worse at basketball than a short person who can shoot.

    Also asians enrol kids late into school because they believe their children will get picked on due to their size. so if you want to complain Dnn, you ought weed out bullying in school first.

  • jeff

    To Tina and Mulan
    I know of a Chinese person in Australia who uses 2 birthdates 2 yrs apart- she quotes one of them as her ‘official’ one and the other one she cannot explain
    go figure….and she has passport/ other docs supporting her claims……….wonder how ??

    Then again she is a tax cheat & immigration cheat ( visa overstayer ), so should be no surprise really

    cheers, Jeff

    ps she cites some ‘official blunder’ to explain how she has 2 completely different DOBs ( diff day, month and year….) big stuff up- i don’t think so !! cheater

  • Why is it that if anyone here, or any other web site can find proof of He Kexin’s age, the Olympics officials can’t?

    Just put yourself in Nastia’s shoes! Simply not fair!

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