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Honestly! Forget the 12 million illegal Latinos in America. If there's anything that will make you rethink America's immigration policy it's the Karolyis. Bela and Marta have expended more gas in Beijing this week than any of China's factories. We were sick of this pair, nine Olympics ago. Yes folks, they've been around since Montreal in 1976. At least then they were the enemy. As coach of the Romanian team (Remember Nadia Comaneci?) Bela was the classic villain; the evil communist with the gymnastics factory.
Now, he and Marta work for the good guys. Since 1980 they have lived and worked in Houston...thankfully in relative obscurity. Still, every four years they emerge like cicadas to rail against anyone or anything that prevents their moppets from capturing the gold.
This time the complaint is that the Chinese gymnasts are too young. IOC regulations dictate that the girls must be at least 16 years old to compete. Most of the Chinese girls look about seven but westerners are poor judges of Asian ages. Anyway, passports and birth certificates are issued by the Chinese government so any chance of independent proof of age is difficult. Like racehorses, all the contestants appear to be the same age, 16. (At least the Chinese had the good grace to vary the dates of birth.) Anyway, both Bela and Marta are screaming that, absent a verification process, their should be no age limit. Good luck with that.
Sadly, it was not the age of the Chinese gymnasts that caused Alicia Sacramone to fall off the balance beam or miss the landing during the floor exercise. Stuff happens! After the competition, Ms. Sacramone took full responsibility for her mistakes. The Karolyis blamed everyone else. Perhaps next time, in London NBC should hire Ms. Sacramone as color commentator and send Bela back to Romania for a class class.
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