BEIJING // The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to investigate claims that Chinese double gold medallist He Kexin is younger than the eligible age to compete in the Games. He, who registered at the Beijing Olympics as 16, won team gold and a gold on the asymmetric bars. She was registered as having been born on January 1, 1992. Gymnasts must turn 16 in the year of the Games to be allowed to compete.
"Given that there have been some discrepancies regarding her age that have come to light, we have asked the FIG to look into this matter," an IOC official said. "It is because of these discrepancies that we have asked for this investigation to start." He's age has been under scrutiny since the start of the Games and various media have reported she had competed in past events under a different birth date.
A USA computer expert had said in e-mails to the media he had uncovered Chinese state documents that proved He was born in 1994 and not 1992. The caption on a photograph published by Chinese state news agency Xinhua last year referred to "13-year-old He Kexin". The IOC sports director Christophe Dubi said FIG had asked the Chinese national federation to look into the issue. FIG spokesman Philippe Silacci declined to comment, but a statement earlier this month from the governing body said strict measures were taken when sorting out accreditation and that the IOC had confirmed all gymnasts' passports had been valid.
Chinese head coach Huang Yubin said all their gymnasts had complied with age requirements, telling a news conference: "Since Asian bodies are not the same as Westerners', there have been questions. But there shouldn't be." Dubi said there was no evidence so far of ineligibility, while the IOC spokeswoman Giselle Davies said it was not a formal investigation but was designed to clear up the situation and "put it to rest".
Games organisers BOGOC said if there had been a problem, the gymnasts would never have been allowed to compete. "If they had not been cleared, they would not have been admitted," said the BOCOG spokesman Wang Wei. USA Gymnastics, whose women were runners-up to China in the team event, welcomed news that the IOC wanted to get to the bottom of the controversy. "USA Gymnastics has always believed this issue needed to be addressed by the FIG and IOC," the USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said in a statement.
"An investigation would help bring closure to the issue and remove any cloud of speculation from this competition." He, who pipped the American Nastia Liukin under the tiebreak rule to snatch the Olympic asymmetric bars title, has repeatedly faced questions over her age at news conferences. Each time she has replied: "My real age is 16. I don't care what other people say." As well as He, others who have come under scrutiny in the American media for their age are her teammates Jiang Yuyuan and Yang Yilin. They were not named by the IOC in its call for an investigation.
China have had their most successful showing in the gymnastics at an Olympics, winning nine gold medals out of the 14 up for grabs. *Reuters