Hello…. He Kexin? It’s the IOC - we would like to chat with you.
And from the completely obvious to everyone in the world file, comes a story regarding one of China’s gymnasts who appears as if she may be slightly younger than the minimum age for competition, which is 16. From the linked article:
The International Olympic Committee has ordered an investigation into mounting allegations that Chinese authorities covered up the true age of their gold-medal winning gymnastics star because she was too young to compete.
I have had this conversation with a few different people and ultimately someone asks, why does anyone care how old the gymnasts are when they compete. Well, the official answer from the article is as follows:
The minimum age for female gymnasts was increased from 14 to 15 in 1981, and up to 16 in 1997, to protect the physical and mental health of young athletes.
Interestingly enough, Nadia Comaneci was only 14 when she won her first gold medal back in 1976. Click the photo below to read the article.
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