BEIJING: This was not a silver medal won for the United States but a gold medal lost to a team younger, fresher, less experienced but with a bounce in their step and smiles on their faces instead of stares.
China won the Olympic team gold medal yesterday because a trio of 16-year-olds with little international experience flew through uneven bars routines with fearlessness.
Jiang Yuyuan, Yang Yilin and He Kexin, who have all had their official ages questioned in the past three weeks and who all weigh less than 80 pounds, gave China the lead after their breathtaking bars work, and 20-year-old Alicia Sacramone started a cascade of US mistakes when she missed her mount on the balance beam.
By the time first Sacramone, then 18-year-old Nastia Liukin and 16-year-old Shawn Johnson all fell or stepped out of bounds on floor exercise, it was left to China’s Cheng Fei to finish off a triumphant victory dance and bring the house down with waving Chinese flags and thunderous cheers.
This was China’s first Olympic team gold medal, and it came emphatically, by more than two points, 188.900 to 186.525. Defending Olympic team champion Romania won the bronze with 181.525 points.
There has been a simmering controversy for more than three weeks as several news organizations received and printed Chinese provincial registration lists showing that as many as three of the Chinese competitors — He Kexin, Yang Yilin and Jiang Yuyuan — may not have their 16th birthdays during this Olympic year. Some documents and even news stories in Chinese publications indicated all three may have been born in 1993 and 1994.
Former Romanian and US coach Bela Karolyi has been outspoken to media here about the “little, little girls,” and even while doing his NBC commentary yesterday suggested it was an unfair competition. His wife and national team coordinator Martha Karolyi, after her team finished second and a second straight Olympics after being favored for team gold, wouldn’t agree with her husband, but she wouldn’t contradict him either.
“I have no proof,” Martha Karolyi said. “I know one baby is missing her tooth but I have no proof. But I don’t think for sure all the countries are going by the rules.” The gold medal went away a little for the United States when the tiny Chinese uneven bars workers twirled and let go and caught those chalky bars as if they were in a gym with a few friends and no pressure.
And it went away a little more when Sacramone fell on her mount on the balance beam after a long wait while judges and a floor television producer spoke and gestured.
According to Karolyi, the official Beijing symbol flashed briefly on the start screen. The athlete must receive wait for a red “stop” sign to change to a green “go” sign on the screen before starting a routine. Sacramone had to step back away from her mount twice because it didn’t flash go.
“There was no stop sign, just a blank screen,” Sacramone said. “I just stood there until my name came up. It seemed like forever. I think that could have contributed to my fall. I was pretty nervous.
“I have to live with my mistakes and just try to put a smile on my face and remember we won a silver medal.” The atmosphere at the National Indoor Stadium had become raucous after the Americans took an early lead on vault. As soon as an “USA” cheer began, though, the Chinese fans chanted louder and longer, and the Chinese girls became more steady.
