China's women's gymnastics team in the 2000 Olympics has been stripped of its bronze medal after an investigation revealed that Dong Fangxiao was 14 years old at the time, not 16 as international rules require. How did our intrepid investigators figure this out? Like so:

Dong worked as a national technical official for the Beijing Olympics. Her accreditation information listed her birthday as Jan. 23, 1986, which would have made her 14 in Sydney. Also, Dong's blog said she was born in the Year of the Ox in the Chinese zodiac (Feb. 20, 1985, to Feb. 8, 1986).

Obviously China's athletic authorities are accustomed to pretty lackadaisical standards in the cover-up arena. Subtlety and thoroughness probably aren't especially urgent in authoritarian states, after all. But if they're going to compete with the West, they need to lift their game. Better coverups, please.

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Kevin Drum

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Kevin Drum is a political blogger for Mother Jones. For more of his stories, click here. RSS | Twitter