Chinese Olympic gymnasts found old enough

LAUSANNE, Switzerland, Oct. 1 (UPI) -- Three gold medal-winning Chinese female gymnasts were old enough to compete in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, officials said Wednesday.

The International Gymnastics Federation in Lausanne, Switzerland, made the decision after examining the girls' passports and other legal documents, officials said.

Gymnasts must be at least 16 years old in an Olympic year to be eligible to compete at the Summer Games. Questions were raised about the ages of gold medal winners Yang Yilin, He Kexin and Cheng Fei by U.S. media outlets as well as by others who said they had evidence the three were underage.

The gymnastics federation launched an investigation of the Chinese girls just before the Beijing Games came to a close and said it was able to confirm their ages with official documentation.

"Originals of official documents received from the Chinese Gymnastics Association, specifically passports, identity cards and family booklets or 'household registers,' confirm the ages of the athletes," the group said in a statement.