An investigation has revealed an Olympic gymnast may be stripped of her medal from the 2000 Games for being underage. From the Seattle Times:
Dong Fangxiao was 14 during the Sydney Games, according to an investigation by the International Gymnastics Federation. Gymnasts must be 16 during the Olympic year to compete.
“Young gymnasts cannot be manipulated,” FIG president Bruno Grandi said.
A second gymnast on the 2000 squad, Yang Yun, also was suspected of being underage. But there was insufficient evidence her age had been falsified, and FIG said it was giving her a warning.
…Zhang Haifeng, the Chinese Olympic Committee’s press attache at the Vancouver Games, called the decision an “old story.”
“That was in 2000. Now is 2010,” he said. “This was 10 years ago.”
Questions were raised about the age of gold medalist He Kexin and other gymnasts who competed in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing.
