Word: sport
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...during the year of competition. According to their passports, which determine Olympic eligibility, He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan and Yang Yilin are all 16. But Chinese online records and local newspaper articles have presented different information, raising questions about these three gynmasts' true ages. A 2006 biography from the local sports bureau where He was registered gave her date of birth as January 1, 1994, which would make her 14. A story earlier this year in the China Daily, the country's largest English-language newspaper, also reported that she is 14 years old. Another local-level competition roll...
...Gymnastics is a punishing sport, and training through injuries is particularly common among Chinese athletes. The high-scoring vaulter Li, for instance, continued competing on the parallel bars in the qualification round even though his arm began bleeding. "My arm bleeds every time I practice," said the athlete, who has also suffered a string of foot and ankle ailments. "It is normal...
...little spilled blood was nothing compared to the intense pressure on gymnasts in need of redemption on their home turf. The relief upon striking gold was palpable among the Chinese men. "There were many expectations of us," said Huang, who started training in the sport at age five and is competing in his third - and likely last - Olympics. "I'm so relieved that we got the gold and realized China's dream...
...domination has come at a price. In China's state-run sports system, coaches trawl the countryside looking for children with suitable physiques for every sport. Once kids enter elite athletic schools like these, they rarely see their parents and the extensive training often takes precedence over academics. Divers have to be recruited particularly early - sometimes as young as age six - before they develop a fear of heights and so that their bodies can be molded into the ultimate water-piercing missiles...
...Once divers enter the Chinese sports system, any perceived wavering in dedication to the sport can elicit heavy punishment. After winning gold in Athens, divers Guo Jingjing (who won a gold on August 10) and Tian Liang were publicly chastised for devoting time to commercial activities without prior approval from sports bureaucrats. Tian did not apologize for his alleged infraction. He was summarily expelled from the national team. Guo, however, made a tearful public mea culpa, saying, "I belong to the country...