Olympic Justice, Ten Years Later
Yesterday, in a small ceremony in Hartford, Connecticut, the 2000 US Women's Olympic Gymnastics team were awarded their all-around Bronze Medals for their achievements at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
(Charles Krupa/AP)
The Washington Post wrote an article about the ceremony, the reaction of the team, the tears they shed, the emotions they felt. It talked about how the medals are exact replicas of the medals originally awarded in Sydney. They mentioned in passing the medals that the Chinese team members had to return.
The article didn't mentioned anything about how the investigation started. If the reader didn't know any better, they might be baffled as to why, eight years after the fact, the FIG and the IOC suddenly decided to look back into the possibility of age falsification during the gymnastics competitions going back to Sydney in 2000.
But I know why that investigation began. Regular readers of either my blog or Stryde's will know why.
I can't help but wonder, though, do the women from the US Olympic team know why?
In case you don't know and were a bit baffled by the Washington Post article, here's how things went down:
September 22, 2008: Stryde Hax & I release a video titled, "Yang Yun: China's Olympic Deceit". It was footage from an athlete bio originally produced by and aired on Chinese state-owned television. It featured Yang Yun, a prominent Chinese gymnast, captain of their 2000 Olympic gymnastics team, who led China to victory in multiple gymnastics competitions at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games, including winning the bronze medal in the all-around team competition - the bronze just recently given to the US team.
What made this video so important, is that Yang Yun openly and in her own words admitted to having competed underage. A very brave individual from China sent the video to Stryde Hax, a hacker who had already uncovered countless documents from Chinese state servers, showing state-sponsored age falsification in every Olympic games since 2000. At the time Stryde received the video from that brave individual, I was assisting him with providing server space to mirror documents. When I saw the video, I knew we had something good.
But the video needed to be translated. Yang Yun's confession was there, but it was in Mandarin. Stryde was busy focusing on coordinating efforts between his many sources in China, so I asked if I could take on the responsibility of organizing the translation, production, and release of the video. I then worked with a volunteer translator, edited the video myself on my crappy little Mac Mini, wrote press release after press release, created a new section of my blog devoted to the video, and uploaded it to YouTube on September 22.
September 24, 2008: Suddenly, eight years later, the IOC and the FIG suddenly decide that today's the day to launch an investigation into the possibility of Chinese age falsification at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and the 2004 Athens Olympics. Coincidence?
Quite frankly, I refuse to believe that. It was no coincidence. The video Stryde & I released made waves, not just here in the United States, but literally around the world. The already burgeoning scandal surrounding the alleged cheating at the Beijing Games was already huge, but this led to a positive explosion in interest, widening the allegations further than they'd ever been previously imagined.
It's simply impossible to believe that opening that investigation two days after the release of our video was mere coincidence. What other reason would they possibly have to randomly open an investigation eight years after the fact?
Of course, I shouldn't be surprised. It's the Washington Post, right? Digging further would take actual journalism. But that's another story for another day.
The point is, I'm tired of the IOC and the FIG covering this up. By not talking about what launched this investigation, the media's giving the IOC and the FIG a pass on the other Chinese gymnasts we've already proven as cheaters. Yet the IOC refuses to go after them, despite videotaped confessions! The bronze medals that ended up being revoked, it had nothing to do with Yang Yun's outright confession. As discussed in the Washington Post article, throughout the course of the investigation that was launched two days following the release of our video, they discovered evidence that Yang Yun's team mate, Dong Fangxiao, was 14 at the time of the Sydney games, well below the minimum age of 16.
So documents are good enough to warrant revoking medals, but a taped confession isn't?
Yes, justice was thankfully done this past Wednesday when the US Women's Gymnastic team at long last received their well deserved bronze medals.
But what about the other gymnasts whose medals were stolen from them by the likes of Yang Yun? She won a gold in the Individual All Around. The lives of three other young women were drastically affected by Yang Yun's deception. Where is the justice for them? The girl who was awarded silver deserves Yang Yun's stolen gold medal. The girl who won bronze deserves her justly earned silver. And the poor, unfortunate young lady who was stuck without a medal at all in fourth place, she deserves the same ceremony that the US Women's Gymnastics team just received in Hartford, Connecticut.
Maybe if the press would do their damn job, maybe if a few gymnasts might join us in this fight, then maybe justice would be served for each and every gymnast that was cheated by China's Olympic Deceit.
In the end, I'm thrilled for the US team. I literally started tearing up reading about the joy they experienced as they received their medals yesterday. I wish I could have been there to share in that happiness. I know I didn't do any flips or tricks or compete at the Olympic Games, but I feel like Stryde and I own just a teensy, tiny, minute portion of those medals that were awarded. I feel so incredibly proud of what he and I achieved, along with those brave nameless souls deep within China who had the awe-inspiring guts to stand up to their own tyrannical government by sending us the information and the video that made all of this possible. We can all be proud of what we've accomplished, the gymnasts, the informants, Stryde, and myself. In our own little way, we changed the world.
Update - Aug 14, 2:47AM - The US Women's Team was on the Today Show Thursday morning, August 12, the morning after they received their bronze medals. I've been all over the Today Show website, all over Google, trying to find the video this evening, but I just can't find it. Did anybody Tivo it by any chance? Or do you happen to have a link? If so, I'd really, really appreciate it!
I did find some other news articles, though! As well as a video interview with Dominique Dawes from the Baltimore Sun. I'd still really love to get the chance to talk to some of the ladies from the US Team, but ah well. History's not going to remember the part Stryde and I played in this, but I do at least wish they'd remember the videotaped confession of Yang Yun.
Anyway, here's the link to the Baltimore Sun interview with Dawes: click here.
Lastly, here are some other articles I've found:
Chicago Tribute
ESPN
The Hartford Courant
The West Australian
AroundTheRings.com
Update again - Aug 14, 3:13AM - I need to sleep: I should totally be in bed right now, but I just found videos from the press conference before and after the US Team were awarded their bronze medals! Check them out! And hey, if anyone was there and has any more videos, I'd love, love, love to see them! Thanks!
"The Night Before The Team Final"
"Being The Guinea Pigs"
The Disappointment of Missing Out on a Medal in 2000
"2000 Olympians After Medal Ceremony"
Elise Ray With Her New Medal
Dawes Talks About Her Coach, Kelli Hill
Photos from the Ceremony
If I find any more, I'll post them. But it'll probably be tomorrow. :) Again, if you have any more, I'd love to see them! Thanks! And a HUGE congrats to the US Womens Team! You all earned it, you deserve it, and I couldn't be happier for you! I wish I could have been there to give you a hug.
