Why 16 and over for Gymnastics?

Question

I know a lot of people are accusing China of violating the rules by having girls younger than 16 on their Olympic gymnastics team (though China maintains that they are 16 or over).

Regardless of whether they are old enough or not, my question is: What is the reason for the age minimum? Are girls under 16 somehow better at gymnastics?

Answer 1

I think when you're younger, you're more flexible and nimble. That would give some competitors an unfair advantage over the rest if they were under 16.

Answer 2

Several reasons. And these types of reasons exist in many other related sports.

Bones don't fully ossify until around age 15-16 in most females. This means that they are more flexible than they would be when their bones are ossified AND it is very harmful to them in regards to their health, to put too much strain on their bodies. I was good enough to dance on pointe for ballet at 10 years old, but refused to go on so early because even though they told me I was good enough, my parents and my doctor knew better. Now at 23, I am still dancing and touring on pointe and many of my peers who went on pointe from 10-12 are bow-legged with arthritis. I am NOT kidding. This is the reality of the situation, it is brutal. Not to mention the impact of such strain at these ages can have on normal development. I know many former gymnasts and dancers who... now married, can't have their own children.

This is another reason why American gymnasts and those from many other countries don't start actual heavy duty training until 10 or older, and the Chinese take them away from their families at 3 years old.  

Answer 3

At the age of 12-14 a body is still developing. The stress of Olympic level training, 5-6 hours a day, does a lot of harm to a developing body. It is looking out for the health and well being of the athlete. It could also be considered cruel to make a 12 year old train that much in western views.

EDIT:

Yes they train at that age, but it is cut back to 4 hours at most because they aren't training for the Olympics. They are training to hopefully get to the Olympics, but since they haven't even qualified for Worlds yet there is no point.  Unless it is a really competitive gym, these girls go to school for a full day and then head to gym right afterwards. But even a competitive gym that home schools wouldn't make girls 12-14 years old train for 6 hours a day.  I've been friends with the family of the gym I used to go to for a while, they would never allow girls that young to train that long!

Answer 4

No, they saw that gymnasts were getting younger and younger and thought it in their best interest to set an age limit to protect them. However, a lot of the great gymnasts have been around 14 15 so it kind of unfairly denies a gymnast that is capable the international experience that they may deserve.