Speculation over the age of one of China's gold medal winning gymnasts was the result of her birth date being wrongly recorded at a domestic tournament last year, a top mainland sports official said yesterday.
But Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, made it clear he was in favour of widening the investigation into the issue.
Last week, the IOC asked the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG), the sport's ruling body, to investigate the age of He Kexin, who won the uneven bars and helped the women's team win its first gold medal. The request followed the emergence of Chinese media reports and official documents from last year that indicated she was younger than the minimum age allowed for Olympic gymnasts.
He's birth date was declared as January 1, 1992, on the official roster of the Chinese Olympic delegation. Rules require gymnasts to turn 16 during an Olympic year.
Similar questions also surfaced over the ages of Yang Yilin, Deng Linlin, Jiang Yuyuan and Li Shanshan, the other members of the Chinese team.
'The Chinese Gymnastics Association has conducted serious checks [of He Kexin's age],' Cui Dalin, China's deputy chef de mission and deputy sports minister, said yesterday in Beijing.
'When He was transferred to another team to attend last year's National City Games, her age was recorded incorrectly.'
