Thousands of Chinese athletes caught lying about their age

Posted By Joshua Keating Wednesday, March 11, 2009 - 9:59 AM Share

Remember those suspiciously young-looking Chinese gymnasts from the Beijing Olympics? Turns out they're not alone. China's sports ministry has x-ray tested 15,000 youth athletes and found that a fifth are lying about their age:

The athletes tested were the top eight in each event at provincial youth competitions in 2008 and all those who had signed up for this year's Provincial Games. The result showed 3,000 were older than they claimed, 2,000 of whom were no longer eligible for any youth sport and 1,000 who should have competed in different age categories. Ye said 16 athletes in one event had faked their ages and the worst offenders were up to seven years older than they were allowed to be.

Harry How/Getty Images

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CEOLAF

11:12 AM ET

March 11, 2009

Wrong picture

This story reads like the same problem we have with little league baseball here, and with foreign professional baseball players as well. That is, people claiming they are YOUNGER than they actually are.

The issue last summer with the Chinese Women's Gymnastics team was the opposite.

So, what does the new story tell us about the old story? In my view, it makes the old allegations less likely to be true. That is, if athletes throughout China are claiming to be younger than they are, is it reasonable to think tht these athletes are getting away with claiming to be older?

Mind you, I am not saying that the allegations couldn't be true. Rather, I am saying this putting this picture on top of this story is actually misleading. Is it intentionally misleading? I don't know.

SKYHIGHSMILE

11:53 AM ET

March 11, 2009

The source of the article, not the photo, is what's questionable

If AIG or Lehman Brothers published a study which concluded that the actions of their traders actually reduced the impact of the financial meltdown instead of aggravating it, would you believe it? If McDonalds published a study concluding that eating hamburgers, fries, and milkshakes 3 times a day didn't make you fat, would you believe that?

If not, then why do you believe a study by the Chinese Sports Ministry (exactly the agency that was under fire during the Olympics) about how Chinese athletes are actually older than they claim, not younger?

Do you really think they'd publicize it if they did a study that showed that Chinese athletes really were younger than they claimed? Unlike the U.S., where transparency is (arguably) a part of our government culture, in China everything the government releases is for a specific PR purpose.

The picture isn't suggestive - it's just there to associate the article to something most people remember. The source of the article itself is much more questionable.

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