Chinese skaters' ages

[skatinginbc]

Is "kefala" the word in that phrase that means "head" in Greek? Like the element in hydrocephalus and encephalitis?

You are absolutely right. Kefali (κεφάλι), the Greek word for "head", is the root for both hydrocephalus and encephalitis. Kefala (κεφάλα) is a specific type of head, namely "big head" or "head of a jackass".

Back to the thread topic: How many figure skaters were listed in Chinese Skating Association website? Say, if the total of listed skaters is 100, it would be a 9% error rate given that nine of them had "wrong" birth dates. On average, the error rate for a typist is around 4 to 6% (before spell-check and all that). It is an official website, so checking and editing would have been done more thoroughly, and the error rate would have been lower than the average unless it is done by some special made-in-China invisible typewriter that can generate data by itself.

[jettasian]

Chinese skaters, including the Zhangs, have publically declared that their ages were falsified and they want the practice stopped. The athletes themselves want this practice to stop. They are decent people who do not want to cheat to get medals. But since the Chinese government participates in this fraud, there is little that the sports federations can do. They must accept the official documents the Chinese government provides to its athletes.

I applaud the skaters for speaking up and while I would like to think that the Chinese federation would be sufficiently embarassed by the publicity to stop these practices, I won't hold my breath.

The skaters speak out against the Chinese gov't and they got away with it? Wow, don't think find something's not right there?

[bigsisjiejie]

Any solid proof or just yet another accusation, similar to the 2008 Olympic? The 2008 Olympic was clear and it was just typical Americans trying to make some noise about losing the gold to the Chinese.

I just hate that China always get the bad vibe from the world. Basically, when some rumor starts, China must be guilty

1) Oh baloney. I was in the arena in 2008--not even the other Chinese spectators sitting around me believed that their country's gymnasts were of age. Age falsification is actively practiced in China and not just for sports. (as post quoted below points out)

2) You may hate it, but usually when rumors start, China IS guilty. Cheating and lying are an endemic part of living here, every day of every year. One might say it is ingrained in modern Chinese culture. Whatever one can get away with, by any means necessary, is OK. It is expected that counterparties will take appropriate measures to protect themselves, and to push back as necessary. The Chinese at all levels love it when they come up against a bunch of foreign marshmallows.

Nothing happened. The conclusion was ages submitted to ISU were correct while the ones posted on the national website were wrong because of typing mistakes. ISU didn't have any proof to show they cheated. It is easy for Chinese citizens to have their ages changed. Not only athletes, but also ordinary people do that to attend school or get married earlier.And once ages got changed, the fake ones become legally real ones.

I think skaters should not be blamed. They were forced to have their ages changed and keep their real ages as secrets. Governors in skating organization force young skaters to train a lot and compete at senior level in order to purchase good grades as soon as possible,so that they themselves could be promoted. And once the truth is uncovered, the organization either try to erase all the proofs, or put all the blames on athletes, just as they did on the poor girl Fangxiao Dong in gymnastics, who became disabled because of heavy training and got deprived of her job and all the grades her earned because of fake age.

The ISU and the International Olympic Committee just do not want to rock the boat when it comes to China. To be sure, they have very few cards they can play against a government and sports federation that actively participates in the deception.

As to blaming athletes themselves, I'm of mixed feelings on this. Yes, the athletes are pawns, but I don't think they (or in the case of children, their parents) should be let off the hook entirely as blameless victims. They/their parents CHOOSE to go on with the athletic training and thus become active partipants in the deception as well, rather than turn their back and walk away when all the falsification starts. And yes, walking away is an option, even in China. Remember the vast majority of kids from poor and wealthy families alike, do not participate in elite sports and manage to find their way in life. I also find it hard to believe that an athlete that is in active training on a national team, could speak up against the system and not experience serious repercussions. Once outside the system, maybe speaking out is possible. I also would like to see the public statement made by the Zhangs where they admit to age falsification, as I don't remember it this way. (IMO her age was definitely falsified as they started heading for the senior level.)

[Bluebonnet]

In case that anyone, including the thread starter, is interested in this topic, it has been beaten to death several times already in this forum at the time when this AP article was fresh in February of this year:

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/sho...ge-In-Question

Cheating and lying are an endemic part of living here, every day of every year. One might say it is ingrained in modern Chinese culture. Whatever one can get away with, by any means necessary, is OK.

This is the exact case of "Pot calling kettle black." What do you think about your own culture and your own country?:sheesh:

[bigsisjiejie]

This is the exact case of "Pot calling kettle black." What do you think about your own culture and your own country?:sheesh:

You're another one full of baloney. This has nothing to do with pot-kettle-black. I do not believe there is currently another country on the planet where the government and sports federations are actively involved in age falsification like the Chinese. Full stop.

Nice try at trying to deflect the issue, but why don't you stick with the thread topic at hand? There really isn't a lot of middle ground--you either believe the Chinese or you don't. You either are OK with cheating or you're not. Since you aren't really stepping up to condemn the cheating, I will assume this means you have no problem with it. And on this, we will have to disagree.

[Bluebonnet]

^^^It was you who did not stick with the issue but expanded it into the modern Chinese Culture and daily living in China! What you said was not just within the possible, yet unconfirmed, cheating among a few Chinese athletes and some of the sport officials. What you said was a broad ranged slanders about a respectful culture and a respectful nation! This was not the first time. You've used every possible opportunities to release your hatred about a culture and their people. As I've said before and I'll say it again, you've been wearing your colored glasses and seeking for what you want to see and ignore what you don't want to know. To blacken a whole culture and a whole nation is not acceptable in my book. Yet these are the people and the places which you've relied on for your living. What a pity!!!

[dorispulaski]

The top ten threads are listed automatically in the newsletter. I don't think this thread is one that we want there.

This discussion ended up in politics before, so I felt that that was the correct place for it this time too.

[Bluebonnet]

Thanks, Doris! I agree!

[skateluvr]

It is important to speak the truth. The ages were falsified. Was any other country accused of this in 2008 Olympics? I don't think so, but tell us if there was, in fact, another country accused of doing this this.

[Bluebonnet]

It is important to speak the truth. The ages were falsified. Was any other country accused of this in 2008 Olympics? I don't think so, but tell us if there was, in fact, another country accused of doing this this.

Do you know the truth?:sheesh: