Summer Olympics: Beijing, China

[jacobson00]

have you seen on nbc video the chinese gymnasts? there is no way they are over 16!

[Google]

 

[misskitty]

The Opening Ceremonies will be shown at 7 AM Eastern Time on CBC and CBC Newsworld.

I love the Olympics. I was lucky enough to have worked the '88 Winter Olympic Games in Calgary and attended the Opening and Closing Ceremonies. It is difficult to describe the amount of pride you have in your country, it's athletes, it's volunteers, and performers when they take place live in front of you. There is so much work that goes into those 10 days. Four years worth of work, in fact.

I have also been able to visit the Winter Olympic sites in Lake Pacid, USA; Innsbruck, Austria; Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany; St. Moritz, Switzerland; and Cortina, Italy; which were amazing.

Technology has produced a better games each and every year at every host city. The creativity of the Opening and Closing ceremonies is always awesome, no matter where they are held. Athletes break records over again, and there are always stories of both success and failure to pull on your heartstrings.

I believe wholeheartedly that China will show us an amazing Olympic Games. Their facilities are second-to-none. Their preparation, stellar and precise. I will try to watch these games according to the Olympic standard of fair competition. I will try to watch these games without political prejudice.

That is not to say that I am not aware of the incredible political statements that China and the world media will inject into it's global coverage. There is time for all of that to be discussed after the Games are over, when the athletes, coaches, and staff have celebrated and returned safely home. Until then, I will enjoy watching whatever I can and I hope to learn some amazing things about China.

Let the Games Begin!!

[femme fatale]

Originally Posted by jacobson00

have you seen on nbc video the chinese gymnasts? there is no way they are over 16!

I don't know about those gymnasts, but the youngest in swimming is 12 (:gasp) years old, Joyce Guedia Mouafo from Cameroon. There's also a 13-year old and a 14-year old in diving (UK). In diving there's also a team of one 14 and one 15-year old (China), both around 4'6" and weighing in at 65 pounds each.

There are no rules for age at the Olympic level. For international swimming a limit of 14 years old have been set, but at the same time each country can set their own limit.

They just did an article on this here and say that these children aren't really ready to deal with this, body-wise or mentally.

Now that I've pointed out the countries with young swimmers, I can also add that Sweden's youngest in the pool is 14, she won a European champ. gold medal this spring and is competeing on her summer break between eigth and ninth grade.

[CrossingGuard]

Yay, the offcial start of the olympics is almost here! Is there any channel in the US that's airing the opening ceremony live? If there is, I would love to know which one.

The thing I'm most excited about: this is going to sound weird, but the location. I love seeing which cities are chosen to host. That's probably because I love to travel (I came back from Costa Rica a couple of weeks ago, and I'm going to Canada in a week).

And adding to how much I love to see which cities are chosen to host: even though it's not going to happen until another 8 years, but I'm excited to see which city will win the olympic bid for the 2016 olympics.

[myrosiedog]

I really try hard to put aside politics while the Olympics are going on and watch them in the spirit in which they are intended: Global cooperation.
To me, injecting politics ruins the games. So I am not going to think about all the reasons China shouldn't be hosting, but just sit back and enjoy the opening ceremonies, enjoy the athletics, root for my favorites, cry with the ones that lose or get injured, feel proud when I get to see the American Flag and hear the Star Spangled Banner when one of our atheletes wins gold and just generally get into the Olympic spirit.

Miss Kitty, how exciting that must have been for you to have worked those games and to have visited the other sites. My dream is to one day be able to go to an Olympics.

[CCL]

So excited that the Olympics are finally here. I've got my avator and and I'm set to go.
I don't know if CBC or NBC will be streaming anything live on their websites? That might be an option for Americans that want to see things live (as opposed to prime-time).

[Lois Lane]

misskitty, wow! I've always dreamed of going to the Olympics but never made it happen. I'm so envious of you!

About the age of competitors, I actually thought there was a minimum age requirement for athletes. This occurred after one of the past Olympics where the gymnasts seemed to be getting younger and younger. So they set an age -- I don't remember what it was...but it was something like they had to be 14 (or 15?) within a certain time period of the year the Olympics were held. As a former gymnast, I can say that while the maturity isn't there as a young gymnast, the physical strength and agility is--and as your body grows and develops (especially women), it becomes more and more difficult to do the intricate moves that have become de rigeour in competition these days. There is no way a 20 year old "woman" with hips can compete at the level of a 13-year-old girl whose body hasn't filled out yet. I don't think it's healthy--and I think that's why an age limit was set.

Female gymnasts used to look like women. Then Olga Korbut stormed into the Olympics and her body type was seen as the ideal for gymnastics. Everyone started looking like pixies. Pairs figure skating used to consist of a man and a woman. Now they tend to pair men with girls who look like tiny gymnasts so they can be thrown further on the ice.

OK, don't know why I went off on that...

[CCL]

Gymnasts have to be 16 or turn 16 in 2008. But there has been a big kerfluffle about one Chinese gymnast who is allegedly really 14 but whose official documents list her as 16.

BEIJING: With the start of the women's gymnastics competition less than one week away, questions are again being raised about the age of a Chinese gymnast scheduled to compete at the Olympic Games.

Yang Yilin, a top contender for gold in the all-around and the uneven bars, could be 14 instead of the minimum age of 16, The Associated Press reported Sunday.

She is the third of six Olympians on the Chinese women's gymnastics team whose age has been questioned in the lead-up to these Olympics.

Registration lists from 2003 to 2006, previously posted on the Web site of the General Administration of Sport of China, said Yang was born on Aug. 26, 1993, which means she will turn 15 later this month. Gymnasts must turn 16 during the year of the Olympics to be eligible to compete in the games.

On the 2007 registration list, Yang's birthday changed to Aug. 26, 1992, suddenly making her old enough for the Olympics, The AP said.

Chinese gymnastics officials have not yet addressed the question of Yang's age.

Just last week, questions were raised about the ages of two of Yang's teammates. The New York Times, whose international edition is the International Herald Tribune, reported that online records listed the gymnasts, He Kexin and Jiang Yuyuan, as being too young for these Games, perhaps as young as 14.

3rd gymnast in China has age in doubt - International Herald Tribune

According to this article there will be sports shown live on cbc's sports site (cbcsports.ca). Look at the difference between number of hours shown to Canadians versus NBC (though I would guess NBC is offering coverage elsewhere, ie on pay channels or subsidiary channels, that are not listed here):

When the final medals are presented 16 days from now, Canadians will have been offered 2,400 hours of coverage on everything from CBC and TSN to the CBC Sports website (Sports - CBC.ca.)

Adding in another 225-plus hours available here on NBC means this year's Olympics will almost top pre-game coverage of the Super Bowl. (A slight exaggeration.)

TheStar.com | Olympics | Olympics coverage hitting new highs

[Krom]

And the opening ceremonies broadcast starts with the expected "China is opening themselves to the world! They aren't an oppressed nation! We promise!" message.

[ArchieComic Fan]

Political messages aside, I think the opening ceremony was one of the most spectacular things I've ever seen. Absolutely stunning.