Category — Scandals and Controversies

Jon Stewart tackles the controversies surrounding the Beijing Olympics: the lipsynching during the opening ceremonies, the slit-eyed Spanish basketball team, and the reportedly underaged Chinese gymnasts.

I’m sure we all agree that Jon is a genius. We should give him a gold medal already.

Related:
Spain’s Olympic Basketball Team: Racists or Just Foolish Dudes?
American Crybabies

Is Swedish Ara Abrahamian a sore loser or did the judges rob him of a medal better than bronze? From reuters:

Swedish wrestler Ara Abrahamian threw down his Olympic bronze medal in protest on Thursday after his bid for greco-roman gold was ended by a decision denounced by the Swedish coach as “politics”.

Abrahamian took the bronze from around his neck during the medal ceremony, stepped from the podium and dropped it in the middle of the wrestling mat then walked off.

“I don’t care about this medal. I wanted gold,” he said.

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Expect Americans to cry foul if their competitors, in this case Chinese gymnasts, turn out to be under-aged. Why are there age limits anyway? If British diver Tom Daley can compete at age 14 [with Western media cheering him on], why can’t the Chinese gymnasts — who may or may not be of the same age as Tom — compete in the Olympics as well?

I say, remove the silly age limits. If an athlete can compete with the rest of them despite their age, then let them compete.

From USA Today: Two female Chinese gymnasts, including a gold medal favorite, might be too young to participate in the Beijing Olympics.

Several online records and reports show He Kexin, the host nation’s top competitor on uneven bars, and Jiang Yuyuan might not be 16, the minimum age for eligibility. Both were chosen for the team last week.

On the website of the Chengdu Sports Bureau — Chengdu is the capital of Sichuan province in southwest China — a file dated January 2006 shows He Kexin as being born Jan. 1, 1994.

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This story is highly, highly doubtful. Shame on the writer who’s trying to stir up controversy. Those Western writers just won’t give China a break and we can expect them to keep churning out crap like this:

Beijing authorities are secretly planning to ban black people and others it considers social undesirables from entering the city’s bars during the Olympic Games, a move that would contradict the official slogan, “One World, One Dream”.

Bar owners near the Workers’ Stadium in central Beijing say they have been forced by Public Security Bureau officials to sign pledges agreeing not to let black people enter their premises.

“Uniformed Public Security Bureau officers came into the bar recently and told me not to serve black people or Mongolians,” said the co-owner of a western-style bar, who asked not to be named.

The local authorities have been cracking down on blacks and Mongolians in an attempt to stamp out drug dealing and prostitution ahead of the Games, the proprietors said.

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He fought the good fight but is, unfortunately, not going to the Beijing Olympics. Somewhere in their offices, Peter Weiss and his IAAF cronies must be breathing sighs of relief.

Related:
Pistorius vs Weiss: Oscar Mulls Legal Action
Pistorius Saga: The Wise Words of Pierre Weiss

Photo source: AP