China's women's gymnastic team has been stripped of the bronze medal it won at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney because one of its gymnasts was underage.
It has been revealed one athlete, Dong Fangxiao, was just 14 at the time, the BBC reports. Competitors must be at least 16 in the Olympic year to be eligible.
The United States women's team, who finished in fourth place in Sydney, will now take bronze medal.
International Gymnastics Federation had previously cleared five Chinese gymnasts suspected of being underage at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, after Chinese officials provided original passports, ID cards and family registers showing all of the gymnasts were old enough to compete.
Following that investigation, the federation had said it was not satisfied with "the explanations and evidence provided to date" for Dong and a second gymnast, Yang Yun from the 2000 Olympic team.
Investigators did not find sufficient evidence to prove that Yang, who also won a bronze medal on uneven bars in 2000, was underage. She received only a warning.
