Cached Chinese Government Documents List Gold Medalist's Age as 14

Kernel Sanders · 08-20-08, 04:26 PM

Source [ Stryde Hax | Hack the Olympics!]

Quote:

Who are we talking about?

Let's take a look at He Kexin (何可欣). Her Chinese issued passport lists her birthday as 01/01/1992, 16 years old and old enough to compete. However, allegations cited on her Wikipedia page put her birthday as 01/01/1994, fourteen years old and not eligible for competition. Which is the truth? Let's find out.

Let's ask Google!

First, we'll search all Chinese web sites for Excel spreadsheets containing He Kexin's name and the word 1994. (site:cn 何可欣 filetype

ls 1994). This seems like a pretty good search. Try it yourself! Here's what Google gives us back, one measly hit: [...]

That's strange. Fortunately, we can click on "View as HTML" in the Google cache and see it. However, even though the Google search results indicate that He Kexin is listed in the spreadsheet, when you view Google's cached version, her name no longer appears.

What a strange software bug!?!? Oh well, I guess we should give up. Right?
What if we don't give up easy though?

What about Baidu? Baidu is a Chinese language search engine with its own cache and search index. It's different than google. So what if we run the same search on Baidu? Here's the Baidu results, as of today, for the same search string: (site:cn 何可欣 filetype

ls 1994). For those who don't speak Search Engine, that's all Excel spreadsheets in China that contain He Kexin's name and the string 1994. So, here's Baidu:

Interesting. Baidu lists TWO spreadsheets at sport.gov.cn with Kexin's name. Not surprisingly, the new one discovered by Baidu has been been deleted as well:

But what about the Baidu cache? If you click on the "HTML" link next to these XLS documents on Baidu (do it yourself!) you can access a cached copy of the document. This means that it was fully available... until recently. So, does Baidu's copies of these documents have anything to say about Ms. Kexin?

Links to cached documents from sport.gov.cn [1] [2]

No surprises here, but proof from a chinese government website speaks volumes

DarkWizard12 · 08-20-08, 04:55 PM

I think its shameful. I don't blame the chinese government at all for this, the only thing they can be blamed for is not researching enough. The passports say 16 but that can be faked, what they should do is look at the birth certificates. Thats the only sure-fire way to end this. So end it.

Lightdemon · 08-20-08, 05:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkWizard12

I think its shameful. I don't blame the chinese government at all for this, the only thing they can be blamed for is not researching enough. The passports say 16 but that can be faked, what they should do is look at the birth certificates. Thats the only sure-fire way to end this. So end it.

If passports can be faked, or made to contain false information, why not a birth certificate?

Aren't both of these gov't issued?

DarkWizard12 · 08-20-08, 05:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightdemon

If passports can be faked, or made to contain false information, why not a birth certificate?

Aren't both of these gov't issued?

hmm, didn't think of that.

But why would a government fake birth certificates only for the olympics? If they fake the BC, then it has to be permanent or else, people will find out about the original.

Lightdemon · 08-20-08, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkWizard12

hmm, didn't think of that.

But why would a government fake birth certificates only for the olympics? If they fake the BC, then it has to be permanent or else, people will find out about the original.

Well, you've no doubt heard of all the other stuff that China has done just for the olympics, haven't ya?

But give or take 2 years, what will it matter in decade or two?

Kernel Sanders · 08-20-08, 05:19 PM

I somehow doubt that these kids are the ones faking their papers. At the very least the gov is aware, at the worst they are the ones forging documents.

DarkWizard12 · 08-20-08, 05:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel Sanders

I somehow doubt that these kids are the ones faking their papers. At the very least the gov is aware, at the worst they are the ones forging documents.

But I have a question, why 14 year olds? I would figure they would not have as good experiance as say some of the 16 or even 18 yrs.

Kernel Sanders · 08-20-08, 05:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lightdemon

Well, you've no doubt heard of all the other stuff that China has done just for the olympics, haven't ya?

But give or take 2 years, what will it matter in decade or two?

Olympic scandals tend to stick around. With proof floating around they could very possibly be stripped of the medals as well

Kernel Sanders · 08-20-08, 05:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DarkWizard12

But I have a question, why 14 year olds? I would figure they would not have as good experiance as say some of the 16 or even 18 yrs.

Gymnastics seems to be different. The kids can do more acrobatic stuff than older people. For most sports you peak later, if for nothing else than having a larger, more mature body type. Gymnastics is not one of those sports

Lightdemon · 08-20-08, 06:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kernel Sanders

Olympic scandals tend to stick around. With proof floating around they could very possibly be stripped of the medals as well

Oh, I was referring to the 2 years in her age. Whether or not that her BC will be permanently changed, if the Chinese gov't decides to do so, it really wont matter in her later life.

I could have worded the second sentence a bit better.