Hong Su-jong (born 9 March 1986 or 1989 in Hamgyong, North Korea) is a North Korean

artistic gymnast Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...

. She is the 2007 World silver medalist on the vault. She competed at the

2004 Summer Olympics The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

in the all-around and in the team event. She is the twin sister of Hong Un-jong."Hong Un-jong admitting being twins with her sister at 1m40s"
Choson Sinbo

Career

Hong Su-Jong made the national gymnastics team in 2003. She competed in the

2003 Summer Universiade The 2003 Summer Universiade, also known as the XXII Summer Universiade, took place in Daegu, South Korea. Emblem * The alphabet letter "U" and five stars, which is FISU's emblem, make up the basis of the emblem for the Daegu Universiade. * It sym ...

for her international debut. She competed at the

in the all-around, but did not qualify for the final. At the

2006 Asian Games 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second small ...

she won a gold medal on the uneven bars, a silver medal on vault and with her team, and bronze in the all-around. She won a silver medal on vault at the 2007 World Championships. She injured herself before the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

and was unable to compete. Hong was suspended for two years, from late 2007 to late 2009, following a positive test for furosemide at the Good Luck Beijing pre-Olympic test event.

2010 age controversy

In October 2010, It was announced Hong Su-jong was under investigation after several discrepancies surfaced over her reported year of birth and age-eligibility for senior competition. Subsequently, North Korea was banned from taking part in the

2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships The 2010 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships was held at the Rotterdam Ahoy indoor sporting arena in the Netherlands from 16 to 24 October 2010. In this year's championships, there was a total of 73 participating federations with 615 gymnasts ...

, as the

Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, in ...

announced it was not satisfied with the explanation provided by North Korea for having entered Hong Su-jong with three different birth dates (1985, 1986 or 1989), in different competitions. In particular, she had taken part in the 2004 Olympics claiming to have been born in 1985; her subsequently announced birth date of 1989 meant that she would have been too young to compete in 2004."Gymnastique: la Corée du Nord privée de Mondiaux"
Associated Press, October 14, 2010 In November 2010, the F.I.G. announced that due to the age discrepancies, North Korean gymnasts were banned from all international competition until 5 October 2012. The North Korean Federation was also fined USD $20,800, and Hong specifically was banned from competing in even national competition within North Korea."North Korea banned 2 years for age falsification"
Associated Press, November 5, 2010 Hong's age has never been officially established, but a video has surfaced in which Hong Un-jong, whose birth year is known to be 1989, states that Hong Su-jong is her twin. If accurate, this would confirm that Hong Su-jong was underage during the 2004 Olympics.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hong, Su-jong 1986 births Living people Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships North Korean female artistic gymnasts Olympic gymnasts of North Korea Gymnasts at the 2004 Summer Olympics North Korean twins Age controversies Asian Games medalists in gymnastics Gymnasts at the 2006 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for North Korea Asian Games silver medalists for North Korea Asian Games bronze medalists for North Korea Medalists at the 2006 Asian Games 21st-century North Korean women