Olympic Controversy

As I am recovering from being radioactive, I have pretty much watched the Olympics 24/7 and I must say it has been really rather exciting! However, I have been extremely disappointed with the results of the women's gymnastics. It's obvious that some unfair practices are going on, especially where China's team is concerned.

There is a minimum age limit set by the International Olympic Committee for those competing in gymnastics at these Olympics - the athletes must be at least 16 years of age by the end of this calendar year. However, it has been widely disputed that many on China's team are under the 16 age limit. In fact, some are reported to be as young as 13! However, the IOC is doing nothing about it because China can produce passports for each girl that claims they are all 16. Now I am no history buff, but what I do know is that China is not below falsifying records if it means they can dominate in a global setting.

At the bars finals two gymnasts received the exact same score, putting them in a tie for the gold medal. They were:

Nastia Luikin (USA) and He Kexin (China) This is the girls that is supposedly 16. I'm not buying it.

Now, they scored exactly the same so to figure out who won gold, they had to do tie-breaker after tie-breaker. These so-called "tie-breakers" were set in stone before the competition, but their routines were so similar that they had to go through 4 tie-breakers until they could find a girl who had a slight edge and award her the gold. Unfortunately, it was He Kexin from China.

Here is what I think should have been done: in swimming, if two swimmers touch at the exact same moment, they award two medals of the same color. For instance, if two swimmers both touch the wall and tie for third place, they will give out two bronze medals. Why can't they give two gold medals in this instance?!? Obviously both girls did well enough to get the highest score so they should both be awarded gold medals. However, they decided to give it to the girl that was apparently slightly better but also underage and illegal. Blast China and their unwillingness to follow the rules!