- Moderator
- #21
About freaking time.
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About freaking time.
I am glad they are investigating as well. I feel that China needs to be held accountable if they falsified these documents so that girls who were too young could compete. I feel bad for the girls involved. None of this was their choice. They have worked hard and are amazing gymnasts.
If the allegations are true shame on China - not just for cheating - but for what they did to these girls.
When people say things like the coach said, it is because these countries have a history, long and documented, of the ends justifying the means.
History aside (and you can read one of my recent posts about how I believe falsifying ages is a symptom of greater bureacratic control), I can't understand how "cheaters live in China" is either fair or accurate. It seems relatively inaccurate and also unfair to the many Chinese citizens who are upstanding individuals in their personal ethics. I support anyone's right to free speech to say such a thing if they so desire and I apologize if I unintentionally indicated that I supported the right to restricting free speech. However, I can't help pointing out that I consider "cheaters live in China" to be inaccurate. More accurate would be "Cheaters live in China, but they also live everywhere else." Most accurate would probably be, "Despite the market nature of China's recent economic activity, the Chinese government still exerts a lot of Communist-style control over the activities of Chinese citizens, including, but not limited to, falsifying information so underage athletes can participate in sporting events."
In other words, it's cheating to falsifying ages so since I believe that He Kexin is underage, someone helped her cheat. But I doubt she got an UB routine like that spending a lot of time cheating on conditioning. Regardless of her age and the activities of higher level officials, I feel relatively certain she is a hardworking and probably honest girl. I have met many Chinese immigrants and citizens who are not cheaters and have worked hard for what they have. I think it's unreasonable to imply to impressionable children that they shouldn't cheat on conditioning because cheating=Chinese. They shouldn't cheat on conditioning, but it has nothing to do with China.
As our one of our coaches told the girls that were cheating on their conditioning : Cheaters live in China.
But please, does it really seem right to be calling the coach that made the "Cheaters live in China" comment a bigot and a racist?