Chinese gymnastics officials are condemning the International Gymnastics Federation's report that Dong Fangxiao was too young to compete at the 2000 Olympic Games.
In a statement to the press released Saturday, the Chinese Gymnastics Association asserted that "from the concrete and objective evidence available, there is no problem in Dong Fangxiao's age" and that it "deeply regretted" the FIG's decision.
Dong was supposedly 17 when she competed at the 2000 Olympics, where she helped the Chinese women earn a bronze medal in the team competition. Gymnasts competing at an Olympic Games must turn 16 before the Olympic year is over to be eligible to compete.
On Friday, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) released a statement saying it had concluded that Dong was only 14 in Sydney and would recommend to the International Olympic Committee that China be stripped of the team bronze.
Reports that Dong might have been underage in Sydney popped up before the 2008 Olympic Games, when Dong applied for a credential and gave her birthdate as Jan. 23, 1986, indicating that she had been 14 in 2000. She also posted on her blog that her birthday fell during the year of the Tiger, which corresponds to 1986.
Dong no longer lives in China. She and husband Li Te moved to New Zealand in 2009. Li gave an interview with a New Zealand newspaper last October and stated that his wife was underage in 2000, but that had been cleared of any wrongdoing.
If China is forced to give up its medal, the 2000 U.S. Olympic team -- Amy Chow, Dominique Dawes, Elise Ray, Kristen Maloney, Tasha Schwikert and Jamie Dantzscher -- would move into bronze medal position.
In an interview late Friday, Dawes, who is working for Yahoo Sports at the Vancouver Olympics, said "I'm happy to know that justice is being served.
"There are rules in place and, if they are broken, there should be penalties," she added.
The International Olympic Committee, the only body with the power to take medals away, is expected to make a decision on how to proceed on the matter later this spring. Dong's Olympic results and results from the 1999 World Championships, where she placed sixth all-around, have already been nullified.
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