Should gymnastics compete by weight?

Question

that would solve the problem of anybody falsifying age i do believe.then whoever controls the olympics can drop the 16yr old age and the chinese can stop making fake passports.

Answer 1

Your idea is a great one, I think, but I also think it will only partially solve the problem. And what is the problem, for some of those responding above who clearly don't have personal history with the sport? The problem, for anyone who was involved in sports like gymnastics and figure skating before the mimimum ages were imposed (I figure skated at a high level and a family member was a competitive gymnast at the international level), was two-fold:

1. Young girls frequently sacrificed their bodies and long-term physical health for advancement in these sports. Smaller, lighter, narrower bodies flip and twist more easily on a 4-inch wide beam and between the uneven bars, and tiny bodies rotate triples on ice more readily. But these young bodies have bones and joints that are still growing and pliable; bone breaks near the growth plates of children can lead to long-term problems. They can easily permanently injure themselves as they repeat these small-body "tricks" 1,000s of times. This is an established fact of these two sports, and if you read "Little Girls in Pretty Boxes", an expose book on gymnastics and skating by Washington Post/USA Today journalist Christine Brennan in the pre-age minimum era, published in 1997, you'll get a better handle on this (I'm talking to the poster Guy L. above who questions as to how age matters). Extreme eating disorders, delayed puberty, and even DEATH resulted from the pursuit of "petite" excellence at all cost. Two well-known deaths during the "smaller, younger" era of gymnastics: Christy Henrich and Julissa Gomez, see details at thie wikipedia link below.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christy_Hen...

In skating, Tara Lipinski in her mid-20s already has severe arthritis and has endured multiple hip surgeries from all those triple-triples she did at ages 13 and 14, and has had surgeries of a 75 year-old woman, again quoting Christine Brennan below.

http://www.usaweekend.com/04_issues/0404...

http://abcnews.go.com/Sports/Health/stor...

This bias favoring small young girls among coaches and officials became so severe that, even when the older girls could, in some cases, keep up, they were forced out, especially in gymnastics. As documented in Brennan's book, Kim Kelly was famously cut from the 92 gymnastics squad after theoretically qualifying at trials...because she was too big and old. Not because she didn't have the skills, but because, as one USA Gymnastics coach put it "we want to go out there, looking petite and confident" (see Brennan's book). Full disclosure: I know gymnasts who were Kim Kelly's peers, and they UNANIMOUSLY agree what USA Gymnastics did to her was about her age and size (she had hips and b*****s and was 18 at the time).

2. The mental health aspect: again see the Henrich and Gomez case link above, and the various quotes by Brennan. Young gymnasts are more susceptible to being manipulated by coaches and officials than older girls - can you imagine anyone pushing Alicia Sacramone around? Frequently living away from their families to train, the coaches often have total control. Yes, these young 12-14 year old girls reach great skill, but some struggle as their bodies change through puberty. Some lose their skills and regain them or maintain them as their bodies change, working through the timing changes, but others lose them never to regain them. Going through these changes in front of the sports world, if you are already in the public eye competing at Worlds or Olympics at age 13/14, is too much unhealthy pressure for some of these athletes, and the age minimum allows these girls bodies to develop behind closed doors without the psychological pressures that may be associated with how these bodily changes impact their abilities.

So, why won't weight minimums entirely solve this? It would solve the issue of people cheating the age minimum: if the weight minimum is 80 pounds, then a 13 year old 68 pounder who might be taller and weight 85 by age 15/16, will be kept out.

But it won't keep out the younger girls who meet the weight minimum. Their bodies may be "bigger", and while different people's bodies develop at different times, most 12 and 13 year old girls are still going to be susceptible to these developmental injuries if pushed too early, even IF big enough. A bigger girl's 13 year old body is still unlikely to be as "developed" from an injury-prevention perspective than a relatively "small" 16 year old.

Psychologically, regardless of size, 13 is also 13. Think of how much your personality and emotions develop between the age of 13 and 16. It's HUGE. You can handle a lot more at age 16 than 13.

I don't want to sound like I am for babying these girls. People are free to do what they want in life, and if they want to hurt themselves, so be it. And these girls are comparatively strong and tough. But they are, ultimately, someone's child. They are still just girls. In the US and in many nations, children at age 13 aren't free to do whatever they want - they are minors and others have a legal responbility to ensure their well being.

Personally, I think there should be a weight AND age minimum.  The question is: what is the age minimum, and weight minimum? Is it 16? Why 16, and not 18? Is it 15? 21? Is it 90 pounds? 80? 100?

Some of these numbers seem rather arbitrary, and I don't know if the medical evidence on risk of physical injury and/or risk of psychological trauma/abuse is clear enough to justify specific age and weight minimums.

But rest assured, the current age minimums were put into place for a REASON, and good reason at that: to protect the gymnasts.

Answer 2

No it wouldn't. The only way to stop any problems of age falsification is to remove age limits. There are a lot of talented 14 year old gymnasts in many countries that are left behind because of the age limit. Nastia Liukin could have gone to Athens four years ago but she was not old enough.

It's ludicrous to apply a weight class because they weigh so little to begin with and weight doesn't make much of a difference anyways. It's the tricks that you do that matters.  

Answer 3

That has been suggested by the Italian coach, I believe, and I agree.

Answer 4

i ahve no idea, but you should not bash on the canadians for being french.. acutally, we only have ONE biligual province (equivalent to a state in the U.S.A.), and ill just let you know that i am french and at each track competition i go to, the other teams fear our team (were the only french team in our competition zone) because our team, the french team, is the fastest in our zone.

Answer 5

Why stop with just a weight minimum, why don't we just find 10 other ways to change the rules to guarantee the USA wins the Gold in 2012?  What would the weight minimum be?  1-lb over what the heaviest Chinese gymnast weighed?  

I understand that China most likely cheated by having girls younger than 16 competing, but I still have yet to be convinced by anyone how being under 16 gives you a competitive advantage over the older girls in this or any other sport.

China's girls being under 16 or under ~80lbs (?) didn't make Sacramone fall off the balance beam or fall on her butt or go out of bounds in the floor routine.  The USA lost because they made mistakes that cost them the gold, not because China's gymnasts were young or light.  

Answer 6

No, the IOC like to keep the gold medals available around 300 i hear... and gymnasts get enough medals as it is.  I'm sure they didnt chrink weightlifting weight division medals from 3 gold to 1 gold available just to give them to gymnastics  

Answer 7

Worse Idea ever.

I don't want to see fat chicks compete...

If you had never been to China, don't complain about the Chinese team's age in gymnastics, you clearly don't know China.