Gymnastics at the 2008 Summer Olympics

On August 21, 2008 the IOC instructed the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) to investigate allegations that Chinese gymnast He Kexin was underaged and therefore ineligible to compete during the Olympic gymnastics competition.[2] The FIG requires that all gymnasts be at least 16 years of age in the Olympic calendar year.[2] The IOC had initially accepted the ages of all the Chinese participants, but newly uncovered documents suggested He was 14 years old, and thus ineligible to compete.[2]

The investigation was initiated after an American blogger reported on a cached official Excel spreadsheet showing He's birthday as January 1, 1994.[2][3] His discoveries support earlier reports from The New York Times[4] and other bloggers regarding He's age discrepancy. Earlier, several bloggers found links to news stories and photo captions from 2007 and early 2008, including stories in the state-run Xinhua news service, that cited He's age as 13.[2]

On October 1, 2008, the FIG ended their investigation and concluded that He and her teammates from the 2008 Olympic games were old enough to compete.[5] This ruling confirmed the FIG's initial conclusions. Though some media outlets have voiced doubts about the decision,[6][7][8] the gymnasts have been cleared by the FIG of any wrongdoing.

In 2014, North Korean female gymnast Cha Yong-hwa was a subject of disciplinary hearing because of false passport used to falsify her age. The FIG decided to withdraw her license and nullify all her results, including the results from 2008 Olympics.[9]