China looses Olympic Medal 10 years later

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the decision at the SportAccord summit in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, that the Chinese women’s gymnastics team at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney would be stripped of their team bronze medal for fielding an underage gymnast.

2000 Olympic Women's Gymnastics Team - China

Rumours and speculation of China using underage gymnasts to secure their gold team medal at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing spurned the investigation by the sport’s international governing body, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG). During this investigation, FIG determined that a member of the 2000 Olympic gymnastics team was, in fact, underage at the time of those Games. Dong Fangxiao was 14 years of age at the time of the 2000 Olympics which violates the FIG rule that gymnasts “must turn at least 16 years of age during the Olympic year in order to be eligible to compete.”

With advice from the FIG, the IOC nullified Dong’s Sydney results in February 2010 and because her scores contributed to China winning the bronze medal, the FIG recommended that the IOC take back the medal and award it appropriately. Individually, Dong was stripped of her sixth place result in the floor exercise and her seventh place result in the vault.

The IOC ordered China’s National Olympic Committee to return the team medals “as soon as possible” so that they can be reallocated to the US team. The IOC also told China to “ensure, by all means, that the athletes and officials of its delegation comply with all rules and regulations [of the international federations] with regard to age limits.”

Although the FIG cleared the 2008 Olympic gymnastics team in October 2008, questions arose regarding Dong, who was a technical official during the 2008 Olympics, and that her accreditation did not match her date of birth records on file with the FIG. The investigation also uncovered the potential for a second Chinese gymnast to be underage at the Sydney Games. However, insufficient evidence to prove the age discrepancy of Yang Yun warranted a stern warning by FIG to Yun, who had garnered an individual bronze medal in uneven bars in 2000.

The US team placed fourth behind China at the 2000 Olympics and was the only time since 1976 Montreal that the American women failed to produce a single gymnastics medal at an Olympic Games. The US team – consisting of Dominique Dawes, Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Kristin Maloney, Elise Ray, and Tasha Schwikert – left Sydney empty-handed but will be awarded the Olympic bronze team medal 10 years later.

“I never imagined in all my years of gymnastics that a decade following one of my Olympic Games I’d actually get a medal possibly shipped to me in the mail,” said Dawes, who will now have three bronze and one gold medal from the 1992, 1996, and 2000 Games.

“We are extremely grateful that the IOC and the FIG have taken such a thorough look at the issues that were raised in Beijing,” stated USA Gymnastics President, Steve Penny. “It serves the best interests of sports to make sure that there’s always a fair field of play.”