Speaking at his closing press conference at the Beijing Olympics yesterday, Rogge said the IOC became aware about media reports suggesting that gymnast He Kexin was only 14 when she won her two gold medals during the Games and ''took that very seriously''.

Under rules introduced in 1997 to prevent the exploitation of under-aged gymnasts, Olympic competitors are required to be at least 16 years old in the year a Games is held.

''The eligibility of the athletes is the responsibility of the international federation not of the IOC, but we of course consider this as being a very serious issue,'' Rogge said.

In addition to examining documents such as birth certificates and passports, the IOC president said the International Gymnastics Federation was also examining ''family books, entries in schools and things like that'', suggesting that the inquiry is not taking government-issued documentation at face value.

''At first sight it seems to be okay,'' he said. ''The international [gymnastics] federation tells us, however, that they want to examine them thoroughly because they are established in Chinese, of course, and they will report to use as soon as possible.''

Earlier yesterday, China's deputy sports minister blamed an ''administrative error'' for the confusion surrounding the age of He Kexin. Cui Dalin told a press conference that officials transferred He Kexin from a local team to the national team at an inter-city competition last year. He said the discrepancy between He Kexin's stated age and actual age occurred during the process of registering the move.

''So it was the appearance of a mistake in the process of transferring teams that the misunderstanding appeared,'' he said.