21 Aug How Could You Take Away Her Medal? IOC Investigating Chinese Gymnasts’ Age
Franck Fife/AFP via MSNBC
As we’ve learned from our expert guest-bloggers, there are disputes arising out of the Olympics, and then there are DISPUTES. The reported International Olympic Committee investigation into the age of Chinese gymnast and gold medalist He Kexin （何可欣） qualifies as the type of DISPUTE that could really get ugly. Why? Because a big part of the investigation will have to deal with alleged Chinese government involvement in covering up the ages of Chinese gymnasts. The investigation appears to have been spurred by a NY-based blogger whose fascinatingly simple investigation can be found here.
Politically, I just can’t imagine the IOC will want to embarrass China like this. And if they do, I sense an ugly nationalist backlash in China. This is pretty much the ultimate test of the IOC’s commitment to enforcing its rules. And perhaps we can look forward to a nice long arbitration battle afterwards?
More importantly, why now?
It would have been better for everyone involved if they had addressed this before the gymnasts had won the gold.
Instead, we’ll either be treated to the spectacle of a cover-up, denial, or some 14 year old girl losing her gold medal because she did what her government told her to.
The investigation will take enough time that the explosion resulting from taking away the medals will be manageable.
Two points: I’m a bit upset about the “trial by blogger” (IT security expert?) especially the ex post facto nature of it (He has been competing all season) and the way it has been seeped out via the internet. I would have far preferred if the individual-cum-investigator siphoned his “evidence” through official channels. Viral rumours like this take on a life of their own. Moreover, it seems that at the very least, if the blogger is correct – he would have violated the privacy rights of a child in the process. The second point (and what the Europeans are whispering about) is “would this process be happening if the US were not in the silver medal position?”
This is a very interesting and complicated story. The Chinese state has a definite interest in the well-being of the child as does the family. I am not sure whether privacy rights of the kind described here form a part of Chinese domestic law. It certainly seems that in a communist state system there is no privacy against the state. Is the privacy of a child an international norm to which China has acceded – I do not know that area of the law. Do US rules on child privacy rights cover a blogger in the US? Yes. With regard to accessing documents that are in China? Interesting. Imagine that the girl brings a suit against the blogger for violation of privacy in a US court under US law. I guess the US court would have to think whether US privacy law applies to this US act which leads to a violation overseas. I think the court could say that, but then the question would be whether the accessing of public available documents in China and the serious suspicions of state fraud would lead a judge to uphold the suit. Act of State doctrine might come in here too by the US… Read more »
Many athletes have been disappointed by the rules of the IOC when found with illicit drugs in their system, but their medals have been taken away. Why should this be any different? The rules are there to make the competition fair – mano y mano. I agree that “It would have been better for everyone involved if they had addressed this before the gymnasts had won the gold.” but the fact is that the IOC’s reluctance to investigate because of fear of embarrasing China has caused the situation at hand. If they hadn’t won a medal but were found out to be under age – would it be embarrasing then? The Olympics is supposed to be about being there and competing, not the medals, but every night on the news we get the “medal count.” THIS is why NOW, when it is obvious that someone who competed at age 13 last year could not possibly be 16 this year, we must look to embarrasing a country who’s human rights record is deplorable. Because it would lower their medal count. Shameful. Shame on the IOC and shame on China. I hope to see these gymnasts at the next olympics, when their age won’t… Read more »
The IOC will likely take no action against China because the IOC had a vested interest in China winning lots of medals at these Games, especially at the expense of the USA. Simply put, they are hoping to pump up China as the heir to the USSR as America’s next great Olympic rival, all to rekindle U.S. interest (read: TV ratings, which impact broadcast rights fees and advertising/sponsorship dollars) in the Games, which has been in decline since the end of the Soviet Union and their sports machine. China’s own sports machine, and its Soviet-style penchant for bending the rules and getting away with it, makes them the obvious choice for that role, and the IOC knows it as well as any of us do.