Martin McDowell’s Blog

(L-R) Nastia Liukin, He Kexin and Yang Yilin. (Photo from http://en.beijing2008.cn/)

It is possible, at least if the suspicions of a hacker »Stryde Hax« a.k.a. Mike Walker are true. There is a possibility that the Chinese gymanst He Kexin that won the gold medal at the uneven bars at the Beiging olympics in 2008 was born 01-Jan-1994 and not 01-Jan-1992 as the Olympic website now states, making the gymanst 14, which is under the required age of 16.

I first picked up the story on the TechRadar UK website but the suspicions were first raised in July by the New York Times and in fact draws suspicion on another gymanst as well - Jiang Yuyuan. The Chinese officials have produced proof of their age (it being over 16) so this could be down to a simple error in the xls documents Stryde Hax has found.

The NY Times article also refers to the Wikipedia page and at the time of me writing this it has stated He Kexin’s age as 01.01. (year disputed).

But if the rumours turn out to be true it could mean that Beth Tweddle, who qualified as 4^th could get the bronze medal.

Related articles

• Olympics: Gymnastics - Beth Tweddle misses out on medal as Nastia Liukin wins fourth of Games
• Olympics: Gymnastics - Chinese duo He Kexin and Yang Yilin embrolied in age controversy
• He Kexin, Gymnast At Center of Age Scandal, Wins Gold In Uneven Bars