14 Year Old Chinese Gymnast...

http://www.amazon.com/Little-Girls-Pretty-Boxes-Breaking/dp/0446676829/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1219552092&sr=8-1


By Janice Harayda
You think the steroids scandals in baseball are bad? Try reading this chilling exposé of the exploitation of America’s best young gymnasts and figure skaters, which grew out of an award-winning series that Joan Ryan wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle. Some of the abuses described in Little Girls in Pretty Boxes are worse than any in baseball because they affect athletes who are much younger and more vulnerable.
Many people have written about the dangers of Olympic-level gymnastics and figure skating, such as the high risk of eating disorders. But Little Girls in Pretty Boxes unique for its powerful documentation of the abuses, typically through heartbreaking stories of well-known athletes and the physical and emotional damage they suffered at the hands of parents, coaches, and federations that ignored the obvious dangers in their sports. Ryan spoke with former stars like skater Elaine Zayak and the Bela Karolyi–coached gymnast Kristie Phillips about the lasting pain of their exploitation in their peak competitive years. She also interviewed the mother of Julissa Gomez, who died after breaking her neck on a practice vault at a meet in Tokyo.
First published a decade ago as a book for adults, Little Girls in Pretty Boxes has become a modern sports classic. It has also found a strong following among adolescent girls. It’s heartening to know that if adults don’t recognize all the dangers in glamour sports, this book may help young athletes spot them on their own.

Best line: “In staving off puberty to maintain the ‘ideal’ body shape, girls risk their health in ways their male counterparts never do. They starve themselves, for one, often in response to their coaches belittling insults about their bodies. Starving the body shuts down the menstrual cycle – the starving body knows it cannot support a fetus — and thus blocks the onset of puberty. It’s a dangerous strategy to save a career [in gymnastics or figure skating]. If a girl isn’t menstruating, she isn’t producing estrogen. Without estrogen, her bones weaken. She risks stunting her growth. She risks premature osteoporosis. She risks fractures in all bones, including her vertebrae, and she risks curvature of the spine. In several studies over the last decade, young female athletes who didn’t menstruate were found to have the bone densities of postmenopausal women in their 50s, 60 and 70s.”

The warning in Kerri Strug's heroics.


I might mention that some of the same problems appear in ballet. Responsible teachers do not allow girls to work en pointe until they reach a certain age and the bones in their feet and their muscles have fully developed. Other aspects of the art are being re-evaluated. For instance, some ballet companies are abandoning the "look" of the starving, lithe, pre-pubescent-looking dancer for something a little more realistic. I.E. women that look like women.

 

She's very anti-Asian. She had another post with "No tickee, no laundry" in it. Disgusting racism.

 

One of the complaints about younger gymnasts is that the public pressure means nothing to them.

Also, Shawn Johnson started training at 6.

It's too bad Nastia is to old for the sport now. She's a hottie.

 

Chinese GOVERNMENT has come up with credible lie to support their cheat.

Took them long enough.

And we'll swallow it, not because we're gullible, but because they hold our markers for billions of dollars and it's not worth a few gold medals.

 

Godiva - Most excellent post on Little Girls in Pretty Boxes. Not to worry, China has been caught red handed fudging the ages and no amount of denials will cause most of the rest of the world (including lots of Chinese) to overlook it.

 

No. The Chinese GOVERNMENT got away with it. The children will keep their medals. So the world knows. So what? They get to keep their medals. That was the entire point of the lie. And the Chinese GOVERNMENT got away with it. (So the Chinese GOVERNMENT has no incentive to NOT lie or cheat in the future.)

The Chinese GOVERNMENT doesn't care that it got caught cheating. It controls the media. The average citizen has no idea of the scandal. They think their gymnastics team won fair and square. They'll probably never know any different. And the Chinese GOVERNMENT doesn't care HOW it got it's medals. The end justified the means. And they 'll make sure none of the political cartoons regarding the child gymnasts will reach the eyes of it's citizens.

 

I'm really sad to read this thread. Alot of bad things happen, but we don't have to be adding too it.

 

I'm wondering why 14 year olds are allowed to compete in the Platform diving when that can also cause some serious harm diving from such a height.

I don't know enough about all the sports, but just was wondering why the 14yr olds are allowed in Diving but not Gymnastics. I would think they should have 1 uniform age requirement for all the sports.

 

Boy, people like to throw out that word "racists" alot on this board.

 

Ehhh. They lied - they should get into trouble for lying. But I also agree the inconsistent random age limits either shouldnt exist or should just be set at 16 across the board.

As a competitive athlete from the age of 12 to 24 I STILL don't menstrate. I'm in perfect health according to doctors, never broken a bone in my body and apparently they are very strong. Bone density is something they test for on high level athetics for women.

"Pretty Girls in Little Boxes" seems like a lot of the "expose" books written in the past decade.

 

Well they're already owned cradle to the grave over there so let the little girl have her 15 minutes. Anything below the age of 12-13 years old though and I think thats a problem. We start many children over here at a pretty young age and everyone knows how pushy parents can be, so what the hey from what I heard her performance was near perfection. I could be wrong but I doubt it.

Wildkow

 

Last I read, Chinese central bank holds about $1.4 Trillion (capital T) in dollar reserve, and God knows how much more in Euro and Yen.

So, yea, Rogge the Joke is right to be quiet on this issue too.

 

Actually it isn't racist, it's true. I've dealt directly with Chinese businesses and they really follow an extreme version of Laissez-faire. They will at every chance try and screw you and it is your responsibility to insure they do not. So if they do screw you they aren't doing something bad, but YOU failed to do stop them! It's their actual business practice and it is not racists to criticize an act just because it is performed by a particular race. (I'm pretty sure a couple of other cultures follow this rule)

 

I can't figure out what this really means. At the end, they still say the whole team met the Olympic age requirements. So just what is the age confusion they're talking about? Surly not that the 14 year old is actually 14?

 

It's also that way with Korean businesses too. For anyone who doubts the accusation of it being a systemic thing with the Chinese, look how they treat intellectual property in software, music, and film industries. A big part of their economy is based upon ripping others off because they can get away with it.

BTW - Did you know the Chinese DVD version of the Olympic opening ceremonies was available 2 hours before it actually took place.

 

Wow! It's nice to see that Racism is alive and well here at priuschat.com. Think you guys could have painted with any broader brush?

Kind of ironic since none of their names were on this poll.

Wildkow

 

It means their previously reported ages were wrong and their currently reported ages are correct.

 

Death toll rises to four as China ramps up milk scandal response.

"Melamine, a chemical normally used in plastics, was illegally mixed into milk products and made its way into the baby formula of 22 Chinese dairy firms, authorities said this week, months after babies first started falling ill. The chemical was apparently introduced by dairy suppliers to give watered-down milk the appearance of having high protein levels.

Even before the milk powder scandal, foreign media investigations had found that melamine was widely used in China to give livestock feed the appearance of higher protein content.
China has endured a litany of scandals in recent years over its poor food quality and problems with a wide range of other products that have been exported, including drugs and toys.


Two of the 22 milk companies found to have contaminated products exported to Bangladesh, Myanmar and some African countries. However, there has been no evidence yet the tainted products were sold overseas."


China vows clean-up as baby milk scandal spreads.


"The health scare erupted after Sanlu Group last week revealed its milk powder contained melamine, a compound banned in food, and a subsequent probe found a fifth of 109 Chinese dairy producers made adulterated products with the substance.
At the latest count, 6,244 children have become ill with kidney stones after drinking powdered milk laced with melamine, with three deaths and 158 suffering "acute kidney failure."

The scandal comes on top of a series of scares including lead-tainted toys, toxic pet food, toothpaste and dumplings, and has again spread overseas with two dairy producers recalling exports to Yemen, Bangladesh, Myanmar, Gabon and Burundi."


This has happened before. Four years ago 12 babies died. There were promises then too.

 

I guess I agree with those who feel the age limit of 16 does not work. Does really matter if they are younger but able to compete? If they decided a person needs to be an adult that may work (18 and over), at least it makes more sense than arbitrary 16 years old. I do not like the idea the Chinese government broke the rules. They should be disqualified and punished in some way.