What's the big deal if China's gymnasts are underage? They still won. How is being younger an advantage?

Question

What's the big deal if China's gymnasts are underage? They still won. How is being younger an advantage?

Answer 1

younger has the power to solve critical things, and they wont  consider any things surrounding them that makes younger to won

Answer 2

It's not an advantage to be younger but it is an advantage to be smaller. Women fill out after puberty and with this comes extra weight (not fat, necessarily, but weight) which makes it harder to move the body around. Men don't have this issue because they need to go through puberty to develop the upper body strength that's required in their apparati.  

Also, female knees are weaker than those of males. When you start training these athletes at the extreme level they do for world-class competition, there is more risk of injury that will lead to permanent injury/disability, more so when the girl is so young. I think that this is the prime reason for the rule. Besides, the rules are the rules. The bottom line is, while the Chinese girls were fantastic, they broke those rules. We have a U.S. gymnast who missed the age by a few months. I don't recall her name right now but I do know that she's considered a premiere gymnast who could have changed the outcome of the games.

Answer 3

"Against the rules" is an incomplete answer.  Yes it is, but how is being 14 or 12 an advantage.  You get 2 years LESS to train than a 16 year old.

I don't think it is an advantage at all; I think they just started them training younger which is why they were so successful.

Answer 4

In all honesty, I don't know enough about the sport and the physical and mental aspects to know if age is a factor. But the IOC (or the gymnastics governing body) has established an age rule and they either need to enforce it or they need to take the rule off the books.

But at this point it doesn't really matter because we don't have anything more than speculation about the ages of the Chinese gymnasts.  

Answer 5

It is against the rules.  (So what if we take steroids then?)

Any Gymnast will tell you that 12-14 is the best age for girls in the sport.

But it just isn't good for the body.  Which is why they changed the rule.

I do not think that China cheated though.

Answer 6

cause its just the way it is

you have to stop some where or else there wouldl be a bunch of 6 year olds running the olymics

Answer 7

Smaller, less developed bodies are much more flexible. I would think it would be easier to do say the parallel bars without much of a chest!

Answer 8

It's a big deal because the US team tasted the sour grape.  It could be an even greater deal if the US team didn't make so many mistakes.

Answer 9

American "don't like peace" they like wars and always involved.

American enjoy "killing people" Iraq and Afghanistan innocent citizen.

American is very funny because they are "narcissistic".

Conclusion:  American "SUCKS"

Answer 10

The younger the gymnast the less afraid of injury they are. The younger gymnasts don't feel the pressure as much since they can make the next olympics in 4 years. Also younger means smaller and smaller means lighter, making it easier for them to flip and fly through the air. Not only that but the younger you are the more naturally flexible you are. The age limit was put in place in the late 90s for good reason. The younger gymnasts train to hard on a younger body and there is a higher risk for a long term injury to their joints. Young bodies also recover faster from injuries.  

Answer 11

If the Chinese gymnasts are underage, they broke the rules.  A gymnast has to be /turn 16 years old in the year of the Olympics.  If they are younger than 16, they should be disqualified and revoke their gold medals.  The Chinese government issued their passports (which includes their age), so they were most likely falsified.

Being younger is an advantage because you are more naturally flexible before you reach puberty.  

I think that the Chinese winning the gold medals in both team finals only reinforces what China has been doing ( "choosing" gymnasts at the age of 3 and sending them away from their parents to train).  It just shows how obsessed China is with winning and how much pressure they place on younger people.

Answer 12

because they won, therefore they cheated, if they did not win, then they did not cheat.

Answer 13

if anything it is a clear disadvantage, so I say good on them for winning a medal from people who have been training much longer than them.

Answer 14

Being younger is an advantage because they get less scared than adults and their bodies are more malleable but it is not good if their bones are still growing and not fully matured.

There are rules about age and you have to be 16 to participate. Yes, they are good but if they violated the rule, they should be disqualified. Just like there are rules against using drugs. If they tested you positive, you are disqualified. Even in boxing, they have weight rules, if you are under or over the required weight, you are disqualified. Rules are rules. Break them and that is cheating.

Answer 15

Being underage is extremmely beneficial. At a younger age, the girls have less awareness and fear. They are still in the time wheere they think they are invisible and can't die kind of thing. Also, the smaller the girls the more skills they can fit on the beam routine. The easier it is to do giants and releases on bars. And the harder it is to go out of bounds on floor. The bigger the are, the more weight you carr. I belive that China assessed the situation and belive they had their best chance of winning by competing with tweens

Answer 16

there less scared and more fearless not to mention more limber among other things.do your research.very good point texas