Chinas gymnastics team was recently stripped of the bronze medal it had oneOlympian stripped of bronze medal during the 2000 Olympic games.  The medal was revoked after knowledge surfaced that the womens gymnastics team had an underage competitor participating during the 2000 games. Dong Fangxiao was found to be 14 during the time of the games instead of her registered age of 16. The bronze medal will now be returned to the United States team as part of the penalty.

During the 2000 games there had been evidence that China had fabricated documents and passports for more than one of the gymnasts on its team.  However the evidence was forgotten about until recently when the IOC (International Olympic Committee) decided to reopen the case.

Olympic rules state that all athletes who are too compete must be at least 16 before the start of the Olympic year in order to participate.  Dong Fangxiao had been outperforming her age group since she can remember and in an attempt to help her country win a medal she presented false documents to the IOC. Dong had been able to participate in the 2000 games and did remarakbly well for her age, however this issue has raised several quesitons.  Why if an athlete is capable to compete should he or she have to wait until the age of 16? If not 16 is there a better age to set the limit at?

This break in Olympic policy raises many questions on the regulations that are in place for Olympic Athletes. For instance why would the Chinese government provide false identification? Why would the IOC not have caught this matter before now? What other rules are athletes being allowed to break? What do you think? Let us know