Russia wrapped up their third straight Olympic rhythmic gymnastics group all-around title yesterday, with China finishing second for their first medal ever in the crowd-pleasing discipline.
Russia, the reigning world champions, bounced back after a mistake-marred qualification round with a polished performance in two routines — one using five ropes and one using two clubs and three hoops.
Russia took the lead with their folk-themed ropes routine and secured the gold with their clubs and hoops effort.
PHOTO: AP
“I’m very excited and I almost cried,” Russia’s Elena Posevina said. “It’s not easy to win the gold medal. We’ve worked very hard.”
China could not match the high degree of technical difficulty in Russia’s routines, but they were thrilled to improve on their sixth-place finish in Athens.
“It’s the most glorious day for rhythmic gymnastics in China,” Zhang Shuo said.
PHOTO: AFP
The Chinese team’s use of Beijing Opera themes was big hit with spectators as well as judges.
“I knew the Russian and Belarussian teams are at a higher level, but we have our style,” Zhang said. “We used Beijing Opera music, which creates a nice atmosphere for the spectators. They understand our background.”
Belarus, the top qualifiers, produced the most difficult routine of the finals, but settled for bronze.
Athens silver medalists Italy were disappointed that their creative effort left them in fourth.
“I really, really feel upset. We didn’t live up to our expectations,” Italy’s Elisa Santoni said.
Russia’s group gold followed Russian Evgeniya Kanaeva’s individual all-around triumph on Saturday by an impressive 3.575-point margin.
Meanwhile, documents produced by China to prove that their gymnasts are 16 or older appear to be OK on first sight, International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge said yesterday.
Allegations have been rife that China broke the rules by fielding gymnasts who will not turn 16 this year, as required under the sport’s rules introduced in 1997 to protect the wellbeing of young athletes.
They have focused on females He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, Li Shanshan, Deng Linlin and Yang Yilin, with the IOC last week ordering the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to investigate.
In response, FIG held an extraordinary general meeting on Saturday to discuss the issue and China subsequently handed over documents to prove their case, including passports and identity cards.
Rogge said they were being analyzed, but looked to be in order.
“We heard allegations in the media about the ages and we took that very seriously and we asked the international federation to organize an inquiry themselves,” he said on the final day of the Beijing Games. “The eligibility of the athletes is the responsibility of the federation, not the IOC, but we considered it to be a very serious issue. The international federation requested all documents, like family books and entries of schools and things like that, and these have been received. At first sight everything seems OK. However, the FIG wants to study them thoroughly because they are in Chinese and then they will report to the IOC as soon as possible.”
The IOC had specifically referred to the case of He after an American computer expert claimed he had uncovered Chinese state documents that proved she was born in 1994, making her 14.
He got two gold — in the women’s team event and in the uneven bars, where she edged US star Nastia Liukin.
The deputy chef-de-mission of the Chinese delegation Cui Dalin said yesterday there was no question that the gymnasts were old enough to be competing.
“I want to solemnly state here that the age of all these athletes that have been questioned conforms with Olympic rules for these events,” he told a press conference, adding that China had fully complied with the FIG probe.
He claimed confusion over the age of He was because of a paperwork mistake during the country’s Cities Games last year.
“Last year at the Cities Games He was transferred from one competing delegation to another and in the process of registration there was some discrepancies in the age of athletes,” he said. “Therefore, that mistake led to a series of other misunderstandings afterward.”
He herself insists she is 16.
“I don’t want to talk about this subject any more because those who know me, they know that I’m 16,” she said during the competition. “How can I do more? Explain more? No matter what people say, I’m still 16.”
The Shichahai Sports School in Beijing, where He was nurtured, added that its documents showed she was 16.
Professor Arne Ljungqvist, the head of the IOC’s medical commission, said during the Games he had come across issues of age-manipulation previously at world junior events.
But he stressed he had no reason to believe anything untoward had happened during the Beijing Olympics.
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