The AP reports:
BEIJING - Just nine months before the Beijing
Olympics, the Chinese government's news agency, Xinhua, reported
that gymnast He Kexin was 13, which would have made her ineligible
to be on the team that won a gold medal this week.
In its report Nov. 3, Xinhua identified He as one of "10 big new
stars" who made a splash at China's Cities Games. It gave her age
as 13 and reported that she beat Yang Yilin on the uneven bars at
those games. In the final, "this little girl" pulled off a
difficult release move on the bars known as the Li Na, named for
another Chinese gymnast, Xinhua said in the report, which appeared
on one of its Web sites, http://www.hb.xinhuanet.com
The Associated Press found the Xinhua report on the site
Thursday morning and saved a copy of the page. Later that
afternoon, the Web site was still working but the page was no
longer accessible. Sports editors at the state-run news agency
would not comment for publication.
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