The Olympics Debacle
I am what people call an armchair commentator for the Olympics i.e. I sit on my bean-bag chair and watch TV while making my opinions known to those around me. It is to no surprise that my fellow television-watchers have quickly dwindled due to my utterly bias and LOUD commentatory coupled with my intense impatience for scores to come out, replays ( Read more... )
It wasn't an anonymous hacker who discovered the information. It's Mike Walker. He never tried to hide his identity, and it doesn't seem like he was really invested in stripping He of her medals. He just saw that there were some questions about her age and did some investigating. And he didn't submit what he found to the IOC; he published it online, and the buzz became loud enough to catch the IOC's attention.
The reason the IOC decided to look into this can't solely be attributed to bad sportsmanship. It's because they didn't have all the relevant info then. The reason that there was any question about the athletes' ages was because of a stories that ran in state controlled newspapers that mentioned He's name. Those stories has since "disappeared." Stuff like that makes people suspicious, but there was no remaining evidence for any investigation. Until Mike Walker found the cache on Chinese government websites. It isn't like the age controversy didn't exist until after He and the Chinese team won gold medals, but that's when more definitive evidence came out.
I actually feel bad for He. If it comes out that she did lie about her age I think she has to be held accountable, but I do feel for her. I think she shouldn't be banned from competing in future games. What bothers me the most is that the Chinese government seems to have gone to such great lengths to help her cheat. I realize that every country wants to best present themselves for the Olympics, but the amount of info they have censored and forged to get He to compete is shady. It doesn't come as a huge surprise, but I'm always bothered by how other countries/institutions treats situations like these. Instead of condemning dishonest actions, they ignore them for the sake of diplomacy. I think it's stupid.
As far as the Marion Jones thing goes, it's hard to compare the two. Jones' scandal was revealed 10+ years later. It's hard to be passionate about something that old. I think people were more disappointed in her.
This current scandal is new so people feel differently about it.
And everyone 5 out of the 6 girls on the Chinese team are being investigated, but He's getting the most press, naturally.
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