Age Controversy in Gymnastics?

[LHSvaulter]

http://www.comcast.net/data/fan/html/po ... s_headline

I saw this on Comcast.net and just wanted to see what any of you might think.

[birdi_gurlie]

Here's my view:

Cheng Fei is the only one pretty much guaranteed over 16. Thats it.

With the others, with the exception of Deng Linlin its SLIGHTLY likely that they're over 16...but not very likely.

Deng Linlin is NOT 16. I'm sorry, but there is NO way that she is...she's missing a baby tooth! Plus, look at her face. It still has the plumper face of a preteen...not a teenager. Also, it doesn't have the maturity that a 16 year old would.

Between the ages of 1 and 18, you can pretty much tell the age of a person based on their face. A 2 year old doesn't look like a 3 year old. A 13 year old doesn't look like a 15 year old. A 14 year old doesn't look like a 16 year old.

[gymnastsrock]

A bunch of gymnasts, coaches, and fans debate the issue here: http://www.chalkbucket.com/forums/2008- ... ijing.html

Complete witha ton of articles, including some from CNN

[VaultPurple]

yeah but what does it matter in the first place? Looks to me like it would be kind of embarising to protest that someone was too young to be that good at the olympics... is inexperience an advantage now?

[gymnastsrock]

Kind of. Smaller girls can flip more easily. Also, it tends to make bars easier. When you're 68lbs and 4'9", your center of gravity is lower, so beam is easier as well. As for inexperience, sometimes it can be good to have a breakout performance. You're maybe not as nervous because you know you could come back in 4 years.

The big problem is they're cheating. There are girls all over the world who maybe would have made their respective teams who weren't given a chance because they were only 13 or 14 years old. Maybe those teams, including the US, would have performed better using underage members.But they followed the rules instead. So it's not fair for one team to gain an illegal advantage over another. Personally, I believe they should just get rid of the age minimum. There's no good way to enforce it, especially in some of the eastern countries. And if you're good enough, you should get to go.

[MadeinTaiwan]

i have some questions,

why are 13 year olds better than girls who are 16?
why is gymnastics pretty much the only sport in the world where this is the case?
why dont they make some adjustments to the events/scoring so that it would suit more developed women?

[birdi_gurlie]

Its better because your body flips easier since your center of gravity is lower. Also, you weigh less and are shorter...a good thing in gymnastics because of the aforementioned reasons. Also, if you watched, a lot of the older people are good at most of the events, while the younger ones are awesome in one or two events...for example, Shawn and Nastia are great at all 4 events, while, if you watched the chinese, they're great but as far as I remember, they only competed in one or two events each, with the exception of Cheng Fei.

[OUvaulterUSAF]

Well for the most part asian people look younger than they are. When I volunteer coached last year at a university, a lot of people on the team thought I was a freshman. I'm 31.

[decanuck]

The problem seems to exist only in women's (girl's, really) gymnastics. I guess it's because of the nature of the women's events as compared men's. which are more based on shoulder-centric movements (rings, P-bars, H-bar). Also, there seems to be less willingness to push the envelope with young male gymnasts. I've read, for instance, that certain ring movements are destructive for the elbows of undeveloped boys, and thus would be unethical to make them do these. In contrast, some of the training regimens those gym girls do seem downright cruel i.e. 6 hours per day, every day. And the Chinese seem to be among the worst for those kinds of programs.

What is the official reason for the age requirement of 16?

[rainbowgirl28]

The problem seems to exist only in women's (girl's, really) gymnastics. I guess it's because of the nature of the women's events as compared men's. which are more based on shoulder-centric movements (rings, P-bars, H-bar). Also, there seems to be less willingness to push the envelope with young male gymnasts. I've read, for instance, that certain ring movements are destructive for the elbows of undeveloped boys, and thus would be unethical to make them do these. In contrast, some of the training regimens those gym girls do seem downright cruel i.e. 6 hours per day, every day. And the Chinese seem to be among the worst for those kinds of programs.

What is the official reason for the age requirement of 16?

To try to discourage child abuse

Men naturally get stronger and leaner as they age. Women's bodies work against them after puberty. It is possible to overcome for some, but not for all. Many a talented young gymnast has been destroyed by genetics.

It's the same reason you are more likely to see girl vaulters peak in high school than you are with guys.

[MadeinTaiwan]

i have often wondered why they dont change some of the events, ie. either make the womans uneven bars further apart or just have woman do the high bar like the men, i know there is tradition involved but surely the events can be changed so the advantage younger girls get is not so great.

but i certainly am not an expert at all

[rainbowgirl28]

i have often wondered why they dont change some of the events, ie. either make the womans uneven bars further apart or just have woman do the high bar like the men, i know there is tradition involved but surely the events can be changed so the advantage younger girls get is not so great.

but i certainly am not an expert at all

If you look at the evolution of the uneven bars they have gotten wider and wider and wider and wider.