The only olympic competition I was interested in during the 2008 games was women gymnastics. The girl whom I supported, Nastia Liukin, won 4 gold medals! Plus, her teammate got 4 silver medals, and the team got silver as well, losing to China. Congratulations!
But the world is wondering wether China cheated by sending younger girls than the minimum age, which is 16. Why would that be cheating? Younger means lighter, which means throwing yourself up in the air is easier. Perhaps it also has a psychological meaning, as younger girls stress out less.
I was browsing wikipedia today, starting with Missy Peregrym's page, and landed on Yang Youn's one, which said:
Yang Yun is a Chinese gymnast. She won the bronze medal on the uneven bars and was a member of the bronze medal winning Chinese team at the 2000 Summer Olympics. She later stated that she was 14 at the time, though the minimum age to compete is 16.[1]Interesting, isn't it?
Well, cheating or not, that makes me admire the American gymnasts even more. Not only did they win, but they had it harder technically. Also, if I had doubts about my opponent's fair play, I would feel bad, stressed and nervous, and I'm sure these girls had to overcome those feelings, which they did. I really admire them for that.
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