How old do the elite gymnasts start training?

Question

The gymnast who take part in the olympics, how old do they start training?

Answer 1

Shawn Johnson started at 3.  With Nastia's father being a gold medal gymnast I imagine she probably started even younger.

Answer 2

2-4

Answer 3

Chinese starts at 3.

For the others it depends on the parents. Some start dancing and etc at 3-5 while some like Alicia Sacramone starts at 8.  

Answer 4

There is no hard fast rule on this, everyone is different but many are about 3

Answer 5

In China about 2 years old.  In the US sometimes as early as 4 years.

Look at the Chinese girls on the team.  They are 14 years old with 12 years of experience.

Answer 6

4-6 years old

Answer 7

Nastia jokes that she's been doing it since she could walk and considering the flexibility she has, I'd believe it!

Shawn started when she was three.

Chellsie Memmel's dad has a Gym called M&M so I bet she's been doing it for forever as well.

Alicia started when she was 8.