How come................?

Question

tom daley, the 14 year old british diver is allowed in the olympics without facing criticism etc, but the 14 year old chinese gymnast and the chinese government has been critcized for allowing her to compete when she is under 16?!

Answer 1

as far as I know, anyone can take part in the game !!! anyone !!!!

Answer 2

Because you have to be 16 or over to compete in the gymnastics where there is no age limit in diving!

Answer 3

Every one knows his age,The chinese put her in adult section as being older.

Answer 4

because he isnt underage. i dont think theres a minimum age limit in diving, but there is in gymnastics.  so tom is allowed to compete in diving, but He is not allowed to compete in gymnastics.

Answer 5

I don't know for sure, but for years, female gymnasts kept getting younger and younger.  I think there were many who felt that

too much pressure was put on these young girls, and even that

they were being exploited.  So the 16 year age rule was instituted.

Also, it may have a little to do perception and judging fairness.

Suppose an 18 year old woman and a 12 year old girl do the

same gymnastic routine with the same quality of execution.

It's almost natural for everyone to feel that the 12 year old did

better, because the little darling looked cuter, or is doing things

way beyond her years.

The 16 year age rule may just apply to gymnasts, but I thought

the same thing as you when I saw the 14 year old British diver.

Answer 6

There's simply different age limits for different sports.

Each sport know the rules for their sport. It is not confusing as a diving coach has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with the gymnastics team etc etc.  

Answer 7

Because the International Federation if Gymnastics states that a gymnast must be 16 years of age during the Olympic year. It is such a shame that because the Olympics were held in Beijing that the Chinese thought they could so blatantly lie about the ages of their gymnasts.  

Answer 8

Because being younger as a gymnast gives you an advantage where as it doesn't for a diver.  

Answer 9

What I find distressing is the potential; long term health risks associated with intense training at a young age before the skeletal structure has had time to develop properly

Answer 10

The International Olympic Committee allows each individual sports federation set their own eligibility rules.  The gymnastics federation set a rule where their  athletes must be 16 by the end of this year while the diving federation didn't.  I agree that if the IOC had one set rule on a minimum age and was checking to enforce it, some of this confusion may not have happened.

Answer 11

I know this.

Diving is straight forward, you essentially do tricks and land in water, There is not much strain on the body.

With gymnastics the strains on the body are much greater, there are severe regimes to make your body flexible, and you have to many 'impact' manoeuvers, (somersaults, dismounts etc.) that can make you land hard On top of this, there is much more scope for getting things wrong in gymnastics. If Tom Daly were to fall off the board or get his dive wrong, he'll just fall in the water. If a gymanst falls off their apparatus, they could sprain or break their bones.

The reason is that a 14 year old is not an adult yet. There body is a lot more fragile, and if they damage their bodies at this young age, the problem could be magnified when they hit puberty. A 16 year old is closer to that of a womans (so it can deal with injury and adult stresses better). A 14 year olds body is closer to a childs, so they're more fragile.  

Answer 12

In Diving, age 14+ is allowed.

There are age restrictions for every events.

And you have no official proof that the female gymnasts are of or not of age.