Chinese Cheating in Olympics: Lying About Gymnast Age

The question is whether something will be done. Will they be allowed to get away with stealing gold medals from Americans. You can bet U.S. politicians won't stand up for America on this issue.

Just nine months before the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.

In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at those games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared on one of its Web sites, www.hb.xinhuanet.com

The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency would not comment for publication.

If the age reported by Xinhua was correct, that would have meant He was too young to be on the Chinese team that beat the United States on Wednesday and clinched China's first women's team Olympic gold in gymnastics. She is also a favorite for gold in Monday's uneven bars final.

Yang was also on Wednesday's winning team. Questions have also been raised about her age and that of a third team member, Jiang Yuyuan.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that rulers in Beijing will attempt to use heavy-handed tactics during the games.

A British journalist was detained today while covering a pro-Tibet protest near the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing.

John Ray, a correspondent for ITN, says he was "bundled away, pushed to the floor and pinned down" before being "manhandled into the back of a police van."

The Guardian has footage that shows uniformed police officers shoving other reporters and photographers, too.

In Ray's case, he says Chinese police officers ignored his press credentials and questioned him about his views on Tibet.