News on 22/8/2008IOC launches investigation into Chinese gymnast

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Probe announced after hacker claims to have found official Chinese documents listing gold-medal winner He Kexin's age as 14, not 16

BEIJING—China's tiny gymnastics phenom, He Kexin, who has won two gold medals in these Olympic Games is to be investigated by the IOC on suspicions that she is underaged.

The official announcement, expected to come within hours, will shock and disappoint the Chinese, but will satisfy a growing legion of critics who have consistently complained that there is simply too much information in the public domain to believe that He is the required 16 years of age necessary to compete.

A number of articles in the Chinese media in the past two years routinely identified her as a 13-year-old.

Rules require that gymnasts be at least 16 in the year in which they compete in the Olympics.
Giselle Davies, the International Olympic Committee spokesperson, told a British newspaper today that because of troubling new developments, the committee had instructed the International Gymnastics Federation, the sport’s governing body, to investigate.
"More information has come to light that did point to discrepancies," Davies told The Times of London.

"We have asked the gymnastics federation to look into it further with the national Chinese federation. If there is a question mark, and we have a concern — which we do — we ask the governing body of any sport to look into ... as to why there is a discrepancy."The new information that has come to light is courtesy of computer expert Mike Walker, of New York-based Intrepidus Group, who, using a Chinese search engine, claims to have unearthed official government documents showing He to be 14.

Walker posted his findings on the Internet on the blog Stryde Hax.
The online discoveries ratcheted up the pressure on the IOC to investigate He's age, an issue the IOC had skirted — until tonight.

Mounting evidence pushed the committee to take the uncomfortable step of launching an official investigation into one of the host nation's newest sensations.

"Much of the coverage regarding Kexin's age has only mentioned 'allegations' of fraud and the IOC has ignored the matter completely," Walker wrote, writing under the name of "Stryde."
"I believe these primary documents, issued by the Chinese state ... rise to a level of evidence higher than allegation," he wrote.

With suspicion deepening, IOC officials were finally moved to act to protect the integrity of the Games and the values of the Olympic movement.

After winning the first of two golds at these Games, He was asked about her age by reporters.
"My real age is 16," she said. "I don't care what other people say."

Chinese officials have boldly defended the young athlete, even producing a passport — issued in Feb. 2008 — showing He to be 16 and born Jan. 1, 1992. But documents unearthed by Stryde showed her date of birth as Jan. 1, 1994, which would make her 14 years and 8 months, well below the required 16 years necessary to compete.