“Chinese gymnastics team have won 17 golds in the previous Olympic Games, to which gymnasts from Hubei province contributed seven of them. Given the current situation in Hubei, how can I not be worried?” said Huang.

The head coach also noted that Chinese gymnastics has been suffering from “inner attrition” very badly in the last ten years. The new-found talent famine, according to Huang, is due to some structural problems and infightings [among teams at various levels].

“That China won 6 golds at the 2009 World Artistic Gymnastics Champs is only superficial, you all can’t see the crisis behind it!”

Huang said these words one week after the International Gymnastics Federation issued their decision to strip a gold medal won by team China at the Sydney Games after finding out there’s a “presumed violation of the age limit for participation” in the case of Dong Fangxiao, a female gymnast.

It suggests that the National Gymnastics Association may has decided to tackle the age problem in the country to prepare for competitions years after. For a country that has been supposedly getting ahead by staging underage gymnasts since, let’s say 2000, it could cost them golds at least in London.

The thing in Chinese gymnastics is, local teams and coaches at various levels have been following the trend of recruiting underage players and they understand clear that once the paperwork is done, it’s almost impossible to tell how old exactly a young lady is. So whatever agenda is on Huang’s mind to get things right, it’s no easy task.

Source: Wuhan Morning Post (武汉晨报 in Chinese)

Dong competing in the Sydney Games

Five golds, two silvers and four bronzes – the performance of Chinese athletes at the Vancouver Games has been nothing but outstanding during the celebration of Chinese New Year. But back home, sports officials in Beijing are fumbling, as a bronze medal the Chinese gymnastic team won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics could be stripped soon.

As gymnastics officials may have helped Chinese athletes falsify birth documentations just like the football and basketball teams have been doing in the country, it looks they forgot to remind the players that they should keep lying.

The International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) posted their ruling last Saturday on its Web site. Excerpt below:

In the case of Dong Fangxiao, the Executive Committee constituted that there was a violation to the FIG Statutes and Regulations. Consequently, the results obtained by Dong Fangxiao at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games have been cancelled. The FIG Executive Committee decision was forwarded to the IOC Executive Board with the recommendation to withdraw the Bronze medal obtained by the Chinese Team including the results of Dong Fangxiao in Sydney. In addition, the FIG Executive Committee pronounced the cancellation of all results obtained by Dong Fangxiao at the 34th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 1999 in Tianjin (CHN), of all results obtained at the FIG World Cup Series 1999 – 2000 and at the Artistic Gymnastics 2000 World Cup Final in Glasgow (GBR) The costs of the disciplinary procedure are awarded to the Chinese Gymnastics Association.

The Committee decided that in the case of Yang Yun the concrete and objective evidence available is insufficient to prove that the birth date indicated on the official documents was falsified. Ms. Yang Yun is awarded with a warning for the declaration she made during the interview with CCTV5. The only mention of age in this case was on a television interview. The costs of the disciplinary procedure are awarded to the Chinese Gymnastics Association.

Should the punishment be made by the International Olympic Committee, it can kind of prove that the Chinese gymnastic team lied to the world, also putting the results at the Beijing Games highly questionable. And now the Chinese Gymnastics Association claims the evidence held by the FIG is unconvincing.

“We believe that to date, there is no sufficient evidence to prove that there were problems with Dong Fangxiao’s age in 1999 and 2000, therefore we feel great regret toward the FIG’s punishment decision,” a staffer of the association said last Saturday and later put their statement on its Web site.

The whole thing left us with a comical situation that while there’s evidence suggests the players were under age when they competed in the Olympics, without reliable help from sports science, it seems these young ladies can never get caught by lying.

And the problem in China is, if the players do get caught here, like the CBA players we’ve mentioned earlier (also see here and here), they face little punishment according to China’s sports law.

Call me a pessimist, but unless the new licensing system implemented by the FIG is super cool, it looks very unlikely that the age fraud shall be gone from here soon. Let’s hope not to continue the talk after the London Games.

Update 1: In an interview with China Youth Daily, Luo Chaoyi, director of Gymnastics Administrative Center under the General Administration of Sport, the top governing body of Chinese sport, said the age of Dong Fangxiao is her personal matter and the fact that Dong’s age had been shifted 3 yrs younger after her retirement was Dong and her family’s own practice. (According to the FIG’s findings, Dong registered a birth date of January 20, 1983 at Sydney but when accredited to act as “secretary” at vault at the 2008 Beijing Games, had declared her birth date as January 23, 1986.)

Links and Sources:

• The FIG: Sanctions pronounced!
• msnbc: IOC: No proof China cheated in gymnastics
• AP: China expresses regret over gymnastics punishment
• Time: Can Science Tell a Gymnast’s Age?
• China Youth Daily via NetEase: Dong Fangxiao’s age fraud a personal practice (in Chinese)

Photo: NetEase

Soojin Cho, front with back to camera, founder and head coach of the Soojin Dance Team, looks on as her team runs through a routine.

Soojin Cho stands looking at the stereo system inside her Jianwai SOHO dance studio, bouncing her weight from one foot to the other. Her shoulders pop every so often with the heavy bass of Beyonce’s “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” blaring throughout the room. It is one of the rare moments she has to herself, and she dances through the piece she will have her dance team run through most of Saturday.

The members of the team trickle in beginning at 10 a.m. Cho pays them no mind. She’s got a routine to run through, and she’s making the most out of a moment she nearly never gets to enjoy nowadays.

“I’m too old to be performing with the women,” she says, laughing. “I watch basketball games now, I’m not part of the cheerleading squad. Spectators want to see young women, not me.”

A decade ago, Cho started the first professional dance team in China. Now the country has hundreds of teams to choose from, but the Soojin Dance Team is recognized as the best squad in the People’s Republic, a team that is sought after nearly every time a professional sporting event takes place on the mainland.

MLB, NFL, NBA, FIFA World Cup — check. China Basketball Association, where Cho was the national director of cheerleading between 2002 and 2005 — check. 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, where Cho was the chief advisor and choreographer for all sports venue performances, a nice title that means she was in charge of some 300 cheerleading squads that were flown in from all over China to perform during the Beijing events — check.

Kim Youngkung, front wearing pink, assistant coach for the Soojin Dance Team, gets the other women moving together at practice.

Cho is the mother of modern cheerleading in China. The South Korean who immigrated to China in 1994 to continue with higher education started a dance aerobics program only to be the one to change the face of cheerleading. But Cho’s story has also been told, several times. In early January 2008, China Daily ran a story on the history of Soojin Dance Team. And in December 2008, CCTV’s People television program followed the team in the run-up to the Olympic Games.

In a performance sport such as cheerleading, where a group acts as one moving unit, it is easy to single out Cho. She’s the coach. She speaks for the team. But this is about a team that is in the midst of redesigning its identity and turning the best dance team in the country into its most professional. This is about a group of women that show an unconditional love for dance when they step out on the floor, giving nothing less than everything in the name of teamwork. This is about working the hardest, training the most and truly understanding what dedication means. It is not about Cho, but about the women she is training and the future she wants for them.

Where the Unit Becomes One

Two women stand facing a group of about 30 cheerleaders. They are tasked with dancing in front of the Soojin Dance Team. That’s the test one must go through in order to make it on Cho’s squad. Team members line up against the mirrored wall every Wednesday if there are new women trying out and vote on a slip of paper whether or not potential dancers make the cut. It is a democratic system, and one that takes into account more than just skill.

Liu Qinning pauses to listen to instructions from Cho during practice. At 33-years-old, she is one of the oldest members on the team. "I feel like I am 19 again when I dance with the others," she says. "We're all the same age when we step out on the floor."

“It is based on both moves and attitude,” says Cho. “And here, attitude is everything. If they look like they have a poor or arrogant attitude when standing in front of the group, the girls are not going to accept them.”

Both women will end up making the team.

Joining Soojin Dance is just the start for those looking to stand toe-to-toe with everyone else on the squad. Every Monday and Wednesday the team undergoes two-hour evening practices. Saturday is a five-hour practice. Additionally, if a cheerleader has worked hard and showed dedication, they could be asked to travel to other cities across China for events. At the Wednesday evening tryouts, 10 team members are in Qingdao and three other cheerleaders are in Tianjin.

This isn’t even a full-time job. All of the women currently on the Soojin team do something else other than cheerleading. They’re students and waitresses, bond traders and yoga teachers. And when the workday is over, they step out on the dance floor and don’t even think twice about complaining.

“I am involved in finance and there is a lot of stress involved,” says Liu Qinning. “I need something exciting in my life. I love dancing and this is so much more relaxing than my normal job.”

The 33-year-old sits maybe once or twice during breaks, but like most of the other women on the team, she stays on her feet trying to stick a certain portion of the song before the group gets back together to practice. Resting just isn’t in the team’s vocabulary.

Zheng Yi, left wearing green, captain for the Soojin Dance Team, runs through an afternoon practice with the other team members.

One of the hardest workers on the team also happens to be a captain. When Cho halts the team for not being together or for one member not getting a particular move correct, 34-year-old Zheng Yi will be the first to fall in line with Cho to rerun through the move, maneuvering her way over to that member who needs a little extra help and demonstrating just how the routine goes. It is a silent, motivational push by the captain.

“That’s one of the reasons she is the captain,” says Cho. “She is someone who dancing did not come naturally to, but she pushes harder to get all the moves right. And that says something about character.”

From the Practice Studio to the Dance Floor

Zhou Xiao Ting, front wearing black, and the other Soojin Dance members listen to Cho as they work through a routine.

“Do you think I am dancing well?” asks Zhou Xiao Ting while walking over during one of the short breaks they’re given in between 40-minute Saturday practice sessions. She’s breathing heavy but trying not to show it. “I just started dancing here, so I don’t think I am dancing as well as the others.”

The 19-year-old from Inner Mongolia stands toward the back when it comes to running through the songs. With two weeks under her belt, she’s finding her place next to the more experienced women. Eventually, Zhou will have the more than 40 dance routines the Soojin Dance Team is expected to know memorized without thinking twice about it.

“My girls love cheerleading, they’re serious when it comes to training,” says Cho. “There are many cheerleading teams in China, but many do not have good teachers or experience.”

Recently, several women who’d been on the team for more than five years switched squads, a practice Cho says rarely happens in cheerleading. Several other team members had to be let go for not following team policies. What Zhou and the newer women represent is renewal in a team that is becoming more professional with every performance.

From the Dance Floor to Center Stage

Nine members of the Soojin Dance Team perform at the CCTV 5 press conference for the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games.

It could be considered the first day of real spring weather in Beijing, and nine members of the Soojin Dance Team are inside the Shangri-La Hotel about to hit the stage for the CCTV 5 press conference for the 2010 Asian Games to be held in Guangzhou next year.

The line up on either side of the stage where several other performers — singers, dancers, musical performers — will give their best for the television cameras over the next two hours. The Soojin Team has been pushing extra hard this past week, and all that work boils down to about two minutes of dancing on stage.

“We’ve prepared really well for this event,” says Ma Yuan Zheng, one of Soojin’s dancers. “We’re always a little nervous before a performance. And we consider an event such as this just as important as any other event we’d normally do.”

The 25-year-old Ma spent the first half of the day greeting those attending the press conference, more than 150 spectators and credentialed media. Now she stands next to the metal frames around the stage, and when Beyonce comes through the speakers Ma and the rest of the squad’s moves become secondary nature. It is quick. Punchy. And then it is over.

The team splinters after their performance, some stand next to the stage and cheer on speakers before and after their speeches, others head back to the changing rooms around the corner and switch in-and-out with the cheerleaders who stay behind. The captain stays on the floor the whole time, her silent motivation toward the rest of the team.

Making a Lasting Impression

Members of the Soojin Dance Team pose outside the CCTV 5 press conference for the Guangzhou 2010 Asian Games.

Cho and her team are looking into more opportunities in 2009 — including more performances with the CBA. But nothing is set. According to Cho, the team can get asked to do performances sometimes a week in advance, and the schedule is always shifting. But Cho says that the team will see more performances this year than any other year. And in 2010, with both the Asian Games and the Shanghai World Expo coming to the mainland, Cho says her team will have plenty of opportunities to dance.

Either way, Liu, Zheng, Zhou, Ma and the other members will know they’re ready for center stage, no matter where the event is held. They know because they’ve put in the work together. They know because they work harder. They know because they see what it takes to make the best better, and each day brings them all one step closer.

“We dance together, we cry together, we share in each other’s happiness,” says Liu. “And while the performance is important, the most important thing is our health and our camaraderie. And we have that.”

— Zachary Franklin

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China Sports Review previously told you about the age scandal over Chinese basketball and football players. Li Zhigang, a reporter from Sports Illustrated China(体育画报), posted an article on his blog yesterday about the investigation over Yi Jianlian‘s age. Yi, now playing at the New Jersey Nets, entered NBA in 2007/2008 season. For those of you who’re not familiar with the story of his age, below are some excerpts from Wikipedia:

We stumbled upon a fascinating post today on Asia Basket. Arthur Volbert, a US-based basketball writer who’s been closely following Chinese basketball, found that ages of 22 CBA players have been changed at the start of season 2008/2009. Below are some excerpts:

For Jiangsu, Tang Zhengdong went from being born in 1984 to 1982, confirming longtime rumors than he was older than his listed age. Others who became older were Han Shuo, Yi Li, Hu Xuefeng, Meng Da and Fang Hui.

For Liaoning, National Team member Zhang Qingpeng went from being born in 1985 to being born in 1981. Yang Ming, Gu Liye, Lu Wei and Liu Xiangtao also became older.

For other teams, there are the normal ups and downs with ages that happens in China. Guangdong’s Du Feng, a member of the National Team, went from being born in 1981 to being born in 1982. He keeps switching from one to the other and back, for some unfathomable reason.

Are we surprised by the news? Not at all. Your correspondent at CSR happened to be the schoolmate of two CBA players, one at Shanghai Sharks (上海大鲨鱼队) and the other at Bayi Rockets (八一火箭队), who both were officially listed last year by CBA as four years younger than we know. The two players are unfortunately not on Arthur’s list.

If someone digs, age-scandal stories of this kind can be found in almost every soon-to-be-nationalised football clubs in the country. The reason no one gives a hoot about it is because Chinese football has been lying there in a perennial slumber for so long. And oh, by Chinese football we mean men’s national football team. If you look at the performances of Chinese U17 or U20 men’s team you’ll find they’re actually not as bad as their elders, the U17 team even made it to the quarter-finals of FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2005 in Peru. This suggests that the pace, strength, stamina of these ‘boys’ outruned their foreign peers at the time. The bad news for Chinese footballers is their peers do grow, and we all know what can be expected later.

What Arthur found reminds us of the debate over ages in the Beijing Olympic Games, where two Chinese women gymnasts, He Kexin (何可欣) and Jiang Yuyuan (江钰源), were questioned whether their were below 16, the age women gymnasts are considered eligible to compete in the Games. “The girls are so little, so young,” said Mary Lou Retton, the Olympic all-around gymnastics champion at the 1984 Los Angeles Games to the New York Times when speaking of He. “They said she was 16, but I don’t know.”

Well, we don’t know either. But chances are the Chinese Gymnastics Association do, and they told media that the young ladies are old enough. We genuinely hope He and Jiang are not like those basketball and football players, otherwise they not only cheated their competitors but also themselves, and the gold medals they won will always remind them of what happened this summer.

Sources and Reads:

• Asia Basket: 22 CBA Players Change Birth Years
• The New York Times: Ruling Backs Chinese Gymnasts
• Sports Law Blog: Yi Jianlian’s Age, NBA Employment, and Immigration Law

Photo: Baidu Baike

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