And no, I don't think thats a photoshop.
Posted on 08/13/2008 12:32:54 AM PDT by joinedafterattack
I don’t think I’ve ever felt as sorry for anyone as I did for Alicia Sacramone. Not one, but two falls, for a total of a 1.6 deduction. Man, that’s a lot for the other two girls to overcome.
There are simply differences in the skull, proportions, body movements, and gestures of children and small adults, even in China. Stature and a flat nose are not the only criteria for judging age. As a mom who sees lots of Chinese kids in my neighborhood every day, I looked at some of those kids and said, "Ten. Eleven at most." A pediatrician friend said the same. Later I learned that a forensics expert also agreed.
Of course the children were wearing padded bras. Their purported breast development is not commensurate with hip development and pelvic shape. Their body proportions are those of children.
Hey, Don't make mistake, I am Chinese, not westerner. I know what Chinese women look like because I was raised by them,and married to them. Generally Chinese woman looks younger than westerners, I know that, but the Gym team is surely beyond that far.
It is hard for women to hind their ages, their faces, skins and manners would tell the secret. So if someone states some women could be recognised 12 when she is 30, according to my experience I say she could not be Chinese. She may be aliens or something else, but not Chinese.
Faking ages by China's olympics athletes is an open secret in China for years, so I dont need to google Bella Caroli to know which side should I trust.
When I was 16...or 19 or 22 for that matter, I also had no breasts or hips. But at 16, I was 5’10” and had a full set of teeth.
Regards,
Isn’t that interesting?
I was a VERY late bloomer, not reaching menarche until 19 due to extreme physical activity. (At my height, though, it wasn’t gymnastics — it was everything else.)
Here I was, 6 feet tall, thin as a rail and modeling in NYC, and what do I find? Grey hairs. So many that I had to start covering them up. By the time I was 30, I was completely white (underneath the dye job). Of course, my mother was also prematurely grey, but I thought that was because she had had a hysterectomy.
I wonder if one (late development) has anything to do with premature greying. Be interesting to find out, huh?
Regards,
And no, I don't think thats a photoshop.
I felt very sorry for her as well. It reminded me, however, of the whole selection process for the women’s team. Alicia did not have to compete on all four events as did all other American gymnasts who wanted to make the National team and Olympic trials. Martha kept stressing that the girls who would go to training camp had to prove themselves capable of standing up to the pressure that would no doubt be a factor at the Olympics.
I’ll skip talking about other gymnasts who could easily focus on two events and perform extremely well on those events if they could just avoid the other nemesis event(s). But only Alicia was given this privilege. (for two years, I think)
Another thing about this women’s team is that they went into the Games with one gymnast only able to do bars. They could have allowed one of the alternates to take her place, but they didn’t. She did not perform her best on Bars yesterday, and she was a better choice than the other girls on the team. I think bars is our weakest event depth-wise. The one Martha wanted on the team for Bars was Shayla Worley. She was invited to training camp despite not competing at Nationals or Trials. And she broke her leg during camp. She is one of our best bars’ workers, but should she have been invited to camp at the expense of another gymnast who was healthy AND who made the National team?
OK. I’ll stop saying wouldda, couldda, shouldda. :) The Chinese girls appear younger than 16. The US women’s team is hampered with injuries and head cases. I think Alicia will win the Vault gold medal. She’s got what it takes. I’m hopeful Nastia will win bars. All Around will be a contest between Shawn and Nastia. Shawn has the edge due to vault. That will be fun to watch.
Since you seem to have some knowledge about gymnastics - do you know when the uneven bars were pulled apart so that the girls can't do some of the skills that used to be done with going from the low bar to the high, belly twirls and slams and backward flies to the high beam?
Taiwan & a Latin American country (can’t remember) used to send OLDER players to compete in the Little League World Series. It’s very difficult to catch this kind of thing when you have government officials providing false documentation.
I imagine that there is some official at FIG that has taken a rather hefty bribe to look the other way. There is evidence out there. Not offending the host country is probably a major factor as well.
The Olympics has always been about politics. It is why I do not watch them. They are not about good sports.
I hadn’t noticed that the bars are further apart. Are they? :) (I really don’t know.) I’m a big college gymnastics’ fan, and there are young ladies who occasionally do some of those skills of old. I don’t know if the skills have lower difficulty levels and that’s why we don’t see them as often at the Elite level or not. At the NCAA level, gymnasts tend to go for showmanship more than difficulty.
FWIW, they didn’t fake the fireworks display during the Opening Ceremonies. The “footprint” fireworks outside the stadium were real. They had problems, or thought they would have problems following the actual fireworks by helicopter with live video.
So they created digital footprint fireworks over video of the path across the city to show inside the stadium and on TV. Its not like they tried to pass off the video as real. The commentators told us it was a digital creation for the sake of TV.
The little girl singing, however, was definitely lip synching, aka fake! I guess they don’t have any pretty girls who can sing.
Nicely spoken. It’s just a show, folks. And, sadly, the United States is China’s pawn.
If not, where is the protest by the US? Chow.
It is a shame when the state ‘owns’ its country folk and does with them as they will, and then parades their “product” at events such as the Olympics to much acclaim.. a real shame.
The IOC should be ashamed for its performance from the gitgo in awarding much less sanctioning this debacle.
Shades of the 30s and another country that did much the same and repeated it in the 80s, first as Nazis and then as Commies in East Germany.
History repeats itself, Film at 11.
Not blood or urine, would probably require some kind of radiological study. Even an average radiologist can tell you how old the subject of his/her x-ray study is by looking at the growth plates lines/gaps.
Any x-rays around of those kids? Two chances of EVER finding 'em....
I don't see how the world keeps a blind eye on these girls being 13-14 and the cheating allowing them to compete.
Also, the smaller girls really have an advantage on floor over bigger girls. Two of our girls stepped out of bounds last night. Unless they really screw up, the smaller girls have a much smaller chance of stepping out.
"Leave China Alone!"
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