Cheating accusations fly at Games

Thursday, August 14: More accusations of cheating at the Beijing Games.
Although the 25-year-old Indian shooter Abhinav Bindra went on to win gold in the 10m air rifle event, he claims that someone tampered with the rear sight on his rifle while he visited the lavatory before the final.

His personal mental trainer, Dr Amit Bhattacharjee, said that when Abhinav fired the first shot during the practice time it hit the target between the fourth and fifth rings. "It is unthinkable of any shooter competing at this level to score 4.5 points. But he remained calm and corrected the angle [of the sight] and the end result is in front of you."

Because it is the responsibility of the shooter to take proper care of his rifle, no official complaint had been made about the incident.

The allegation of cheating follows a dispute which blew up at yesterday's press conference after the Chinese women gymnasts beat the Americans to gold in the team event. Journalists accused the Chinese of fielding three underage girls.

Olympic regulations dictate that competing gymnasts must turn 16 by the end of an Olympic year. But it was alleged that Chinese media reports had refered to He Kexin, Jiang Yuyuan, and Yang Yilin as being 13 or 14 as recently as a year ago.

The IOC has defended the Chinese, saying that passports and other documentation 'proved' the athletes were old enough to compete.

American doubts remain - especially after allegations of delaying tactics by Olympic officials which, according to US team coordinator Martha Karolyi, led to their star gymnast Alicia Sacramone slipping on the balance beam.

LAST UPDATED 9:17 AM, AUGUST 14, 2008