Published: August 16, 2008 10:42 pm            

Laura Wilson 08-17-08

So I have been watching the Olympics — or at least some of the games.

I’ve only seen what’s been on in the evenings on NBC. We don’t get any of the other channels airing Olympics footage at our house, and our Internet connection is dial-up, so I’m not going to be watching anything online either.

And I haven’t even been watching everything on NBC in the evenings, either because I’m watching something else or I’m doing something else. If I’m not doing something else and nothing interesting is on TV, I’ve been stopping for the Olympics if an event that might be exciting is on. (I change channels a lot. The remote is dangerous in my hand.)

Mostly, I’ve seen swimming and gymnastics. Occasionally, I stop of beach volleyball, but mostly to wonder (a) how it became an Olympic sport and (b) why the women can’t wear T-shirts and shorts as the men do.

The swimming has been exciting, although apparently I missed the most exciting relay because I was doing something that didn’t involve the TV, possibly sleeping. (I don’t even know exactly when it happened.)

And I’ve always liked gymnastics. I harbored visions of being a gymnast when I was a child, ignoring the fact that I couldn’t even stand on my head without support and had no access to gymnastics equipment outside of fifth grade P.E., when we spent a few weeks on it.

But this year, I’ve spent most of the time studying the Chinese gymnasts to figure out just how old they are because there is no way all of them are at least 16. I’d swear one of them hasn’t even got all of her permanent teeth in yet. I’m sure I saw a gap.

Of course, the Chinese Olympic committee says they’re all old enough to be in the Olympics gymnastics competition because their passports say so and those can’t just be altered. They left out “unless the government is in on the deception.”

There have been reports of younger ages for some of the girls, and I’m inclined to believe them, although I don’t know if the International Olympics Committee can do anything about it now, having decided to accept passports for proof of age.

I’m not sure what else they can do, but I hope they think of something before four more years pass. Life isn’t fair, but the Olympics should at least try to be.

Laura Wilson can be reached at 372-5000, Ext. 230, or .

        

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