Better late than never: China loses 2000 Olympics gymnastics bronze

Those pesky age issues with the Chinese women's gymnastics team are hard to keep up with.

On Friday, FIG -- the federation that governs international gymnastics -- recommended that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) take away the team bronze medal the Chinese earned at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, because FIG had discovered that the Chinese federation falsified the birth certificate of one of its competitors.

That competitor was not, however, Yang Yun. Shortly after those Olympics, Yang said in a television interview in China that she was 14 in Sydney. She would have been too young by two years to have legally competed.

Instead, FIG said the formal violation involved a second gymnast, Dong Fangxiao. FIG said Dong competed at the 2000 Games with a birth certificate stating she was born Jan. 20, 1983, which would have made her 17 in Sydney and age-eligible. During the Beijing Olympics in 2008, FIG said it discovered that when Dong was accredited to act as official secretary for the vault competition, she declared her birth date as Jan. 23, 1986. That would have made her 14 years old in Sydney as well.

FIG said that because the only evidence it has that Yang was too young in Sidney is her televised comments, it was not recommending sanctions because of Yang. 

Two weeks before the Beijing Olympics, evidence of possible discrepancies in the ages of three members of the eventual gold-medal-winning Chinese team were reported by several publications in the United States. At the time, FIG and the IOC said there was not enough evidence available to allow for an investigation.

Friday in Vancouver, the IOC issued a statement saying it had received the FIG's recommendation. The statement read: "We can confirm that we have received the ruling from the FIG in the case concerning Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun and we take due note of their decision.Clearly we need to take time to consider the findings before the Executive Board can consider the matter.We would like to thank the FIG for their work and we would refer further enquiries to them."

The U.S. finished fourth in the team competition in 2000 and might be in line to receive the bronze medal, though the IOC doesn't automatically issue another medal in such cases. The men's and women's teams left Sydney with no medals.

USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny said Friday, "FIG has done a pretty good job in trying to get to the bottom of what they can get to the bottom of. This is not an easy thing to try and resolve. It's not an easy set of circumstances to prove anything."

He also said he was "hopeful" that should the IOC revoke China's bronze medal, the U.S. team would receive it.

-- Diane Pucin

Golf and rugby to be among sports at 2016 Olympics

Imagine what a golf course in Rio de Janeiro would look like...

Lush rainforest grass surrounded by cascading waterfalls and singing vibrant-hued toucans? The world's best golfers will find out in 2016. 

The International Olympic Committee voted today to bring golf to the 2016 Olympic games for the first time in more than a century.

The IOC is also permitting rugby to make its first appearance at the Olympics since 1924. Rugby, which was voted in 81-8 with one abstention, received less resistance than golf, which was voted in 63-27 with two abstentions.

Some IOC members were hesitant to vote for golf due to the high costs associated with the sport, potential accessibility issues, and the fact that some clubs exclude women members, according to the Associated Press.

Tiger Woods, however, is reportedly thrilled, indicating in a taped message that he would participate in the 2016 Olympics if golf were approved.

"There are millions of young golfers worldwide who would be proud to represent their country," Woods told reporters from the Presidents Cup in San Francisco. "It would be an honor for anyone who plays this game to become an Olympian."

-- Melissa Rohlin

Cinquanta and Grandi, they must be related.

As Phil Hersh pointed out, figure skating's czar, Ottavio Cinquanta of Italy, speaks a lot, says little and seems committed to doing stupid things that hurt the sport. Since figure skating is consistently one of the most popular sports in the Winter Olympics, it would seem that someone associated with the International Olympic Committee -- or, you know, the sport itself -- might eventually want to look for a new guy to give hour-long state-of-the-sport addresses that are both imperious and insipid.

One of the most popular Summer Olympic sports, gymnastics, has the same deal. Bruno Grandi, also of Italy, runs the International Gymnastics Federation. He, too, is fond of meddling with the scoring system -- making it something impenetrable to the casual fan -- and ignoring important issues (Chinese age controversy, anyone?) He also loves speaking for hours at a time and saying nothing. How has it happened that these two men, who seem far removed from the sports they are supposed to help foster, have kept their jobs?

-- Diane Pucin

Olympic stumble psyches hurdler Lolo Jones up, not out

Lolo Jones after the 2008 Olympic final in Beijing. Credit: Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times

The Olympic memory stings Lolo Jones now as much as it did then, when it brought the 26-year-old to her hands and knees and left her in tears on the Bird's Nest track after a stumble at the next-to-last high hurdle cost her the gold medal she had been running away with.

Jones still can't bear to watch a replay of the race, but she continues to handle the frustration with the same good nature and grace ("You have to get over all 10 or you're not meant to be champion,'' Jones said immediately after the race) that prompted this letter to the Los Angeles Times last August:

It was so very painful for Lolo Jones and her family and fans when she hit the hurdle while leading the women's 100-meter hurdles. The irony is that had she not faltered, America might have seen her celebrate, but we would never have been treated to the depth of character and genuine decency that she displayed in the face of her personal agony. Ms. Jones is a very special young woman; that's far more important than any medal. -- Kip Dellinger, West Los Angeles

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, as she prepares to defend her U.S. indoor title in the 60-meter hurdles in Boston this weekend, Jones was able to make light of a mishap that undoubtedly has brought her more attention than a gold medal would have among U.S. fans whom NBC force-fed, ad nauseam, a diet of Michael Phelps, gymnastics and beach volleyball.

"I don't think people would remember my name as much if I would have won,'' Jones said, with realism rather than rancor. "Everyone can relate to not getting something they wanted so badly and worked so hard for, whether they are an athlete or working 9-to-5.''

As it has been with so much else in a life of turmoil and rootlessness, a life when her one goal was to "to get out of poverty,'' Jones sees her Olympic fall as just another hurdle to overcome.

"I always have flashbacks from the Olympics,'' she said.  "[Since then], it became therapeutic to me every time I could just drain energy in practice.''

And then, just to make sure no one over-dramatized her words, Jones laughed and added, "Instead of paying for a psychiatrist, I would just go to practice and have a session -- for free.''

It was some consolation that Track & Field News ranked her the world's No. 1 hurdler for 2008, when she won the U.S. Olympic trials, ran the world's two fastest times outdoors (the fastest, 12.43, came in the Olympic semis) and became world indoor champion. She enjoyed hearing herself introduced as No. 1 this winter in Europe, where she has won four or five meets and run the three fastest times in the world.

"I would hear someone being called bronze medalist from Beijing or Olympic champion in Beijing and wondered what they would say about me,'' she said.

Beijing. It won't go away.

"Every race helps, but I'm still getting over it,'' she said.  "I will use it as motivation for the next four years.''

-- Philip Hersh