Hartford, CT (Sportsbooks) - It took 10 years, but the U.S. women's gymnastics team finally received their bronze medals from the 2000 Summer Games. Earlier this year, the International Olympic Committee stripped China of a team bronze medal because of an underage participant. In turn, the United States team that finished fourth in the event was elevated to third. The American women's team of Amy Chow, Jamie Dantzscher, Dominique Dawes, Kristen Maloney, Elise Ray and Tasha Schwikert all received their medals. An investigation by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) in February found that Dong Fangxiao was 14 at the time of the Sydney Games and ineligible to participate. An athlete must be a minimum of 16 years old in the year of the Olympic Games in order to compete. According to FIG, Dong was registered with a birth date of January 20, 1983, making her 17 years old during the Sydney Olympics. However, the gymnastics body found that at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, she officially declared her birth date as January 23, 1986, on her work accreditation for the Games. |
