Dong Fangxiao - 2000 Olympics Team Prelims - Floor Exercise

Dong Fangxiao - 2000 Olympics Team Prelims - Floor Exercise

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• dong
• fangxiao
• gymnastics
• olympics
• floor
• exercise

[intldawn]

What a shame. I feel bad for her because isn't it really the fault of her coaches and federation for lying on her behalf to let her compete? She was just a kid. What opportunity did she have in a communist system to stand up, say no and put a stop to all this? She was a terrific athlete, though. It's too bad that for all intents and purposes, her career never existed.

[hotpaws29]

she was amazing! its so sad they're taking her medal from her. who cares about age really? as long as shes a good gymnast thats all that should matter. in and before the 80's u could perform in the olympics when u were 14. then they changed it to 15 in the 80's then 16 in '97. who really cares as long as their good!

[NZgymchick]

Dong Fanxiao "Xiao" is my daughter's coach. She and her husband live in New Zealand now. They are absolutely amazing. Two of the most wonderful people and fantastic coaches...we feel very blessed to know them and count them as our friends!

[PoorPublicSchoolKid]

1:16 .... Mo Huilan's legacy to Dong Fangxiao? lol

[ShawnVikaKomova2012]

This is just a routine that brings a smile to your face. Poor girl...

[baiorinshoujo]

@Keith77155 i don't think that should be the case. each olympic game have their own set of rules and regulations. its like saying that those gymnasts who competed before 97 that were under 16 should all have their medals stripped simply because the rule 'now' says they must be 16+. The rules they have now should not apply to any of the past games. It doesn't change the fact that she still broke the specific rules that were implemented for her year.

[intldawn]

@baiorinshoujo You make a good point. She probably did want to compete but I don't think that she made that decision alone. Somewhere along the line, her coaches and federation greased the wheels to get her in competition, which is wrong. The responsibility of fair play belongs to everyone. But in this case, I'm more apt to blame the adults who should know better. These particular athletes are kids and not in the best position to defy authority in order to stand up for what's right. 

[baiorinshoujo]

@intldawn how do you know that she wasn't up for it and was determined to enter the game that year? if i was 14 and knew that my chances of winning gold was gonna be alot better now than waiting 4 years later when i'm 18 and loosing my felxibility i would definitely consider entering. The cruel thing about gymnastic is the unpredictability of when a gymnast would 'peak', you could be at your best now but the game is still far away. Many gymnast only enter once and retire at around 20.

[Keith77155]

Yeah they should give Raducan's medal back cause the drug she tested positive for is completly legal now so if a gymnast now take's the same kind of cough syrup she did would not fail a drug test . I think they should give her back her medal since it's a legal substance now....

[LMA629]

@intldawn Oh ok, thanks. i guess the article got it wrong then.

[intldawn]

@LMA629 Here is the link to the International Olympic Committee database of all Olympic medalists. If you do a search for these Olympics, you can see for yourself that Yang Yun won bronze, not Dong Fangxiao.

[intldawn]

@LMA629 I guarantee you that if you read that in a news article then they got it wrong. Post the link, if you would, so I can see it. I've watched that competition numerous times and I know for a fact that Dong Fangxiao wasn't even in the uneven bars final, let alone did she win a medal. There was a limit of two gymnasts per country and those gymnasts from China were Ling Jie, who won silver, and Yang Yun, who was allowed to keep her bronze. Khorkina won gold.