Should the Age Limit Be Eliminated?
Sunday July 27, 2008
Even if the Chinese government is doctoring the ages of these gymnasts to allow them to compete, it's very hard for the FIG to prove anything. To me, this is the primary reason to eliminate the current age limit: It penalizes those countries that don't cheat.
What do you think the age limit should be?
Comments
I definetly think the age limit should be eliminatated. It seems like the limit has shortened gymnasts careers. In 1996 the USA had three returning Olympians, this year None.
With the injuries that this sports some gymnasts may have a very short shelf life too. Yang Yun the gymnast who was mentioned as under age. Was really one year too young for Sydney. She was an absolutely spectacular gymnast though. However, after Sydney she began to deal with injury after injury and retired before the 2004 games. It would have been a shame if the world had never gotten to see Yang Yun.
I don’t think the age rules are fair to the gymnasts. I don’t think they are fair to the countries. Why shouldn’t China be able to send their best? And I don’t think its what the Olympics should be about. Surely they can have a more normal age limit.
Oh I forgot to say what age I think the limit should be. Personally I think the age limit should be the same as it is for divers and swimmers.
i totally agree. nastia liukin would’ve made the team in 2004, and vanessa atler should have made the world team in 1997. (plus there are a million other examples). atler peaked too young and she shouldn’t be penalized for that. i don’t think coaches can always control at what age a gymnast peaks.
I think while it has been unfair for some gymnasts, the 16 year old age limit is overall in the best interests of the athletes. This way they don’t peak so early and I think are healthier overall. It is a major problem though if other countries simply aren’t going to follow the rules.
Countries who don’t cheat? You mean countries who can’t cheat. Believe me – if the Karolyis can get away with it, they’d be setting up a passport making factory in their own house.
The only qualification should be, is if someone is good enough. Age should not come in to it imho.
It makes no sense to set an age limit to the gymnasts only when they participate the competition, but not when they start to get training. When I watch some kids to get training at their very early ages (4-5 years old), I would say I never let my children be gymnasts. That kind of training is not suitable for them. However some parents say ok for their children, then I won’t stop them. Remember, it is not unusual to get injured to be a gymnast. If you like spicy food, you should have a cup of ice water ready for your hot tongue and don’t blame about it.
Why most young girls can perform better at the age 14-16 than at the age of 20? Because younger girls don’t have so much thinking or romantic things to bother them. Do you ever see a monkey fall from a tree when jumping from branch to branch? I haven’t. Because the monkey does not have so much thinking as a human. Why bother their ages if they can handle the hard work and have a good performance. If Olympic VIP really try to protect those young girls, stop the event. and other brutal sports like boxing.
Why did the coach of American women team not suspect the age of the young chinese girl when
she fell from the uneven bar untill her team
won the champ? She sounded like she had to be
the winner and no body else. Don’t you think American team lost the chance because of two major mistakes? Please learn something from
mistakes, not from blaming other people. Some
asian women look ten to twelve years younger
than their real age from American view point.
I still remember the guard stopped me to enter a night club and asked me to show him the ID when I was thirty two years old. Don’t suspect a person’s age unless you have a solid evidence .
Eliminate it! Or make it 12.
Why not have weight classes for gymnastics like they do for weightlifting? It would make the competition longer but this would seem to make it a fair playing field.
I think that there shouldn’t be any age limit. However if at this time the rule was 16 years than everyone should respect it and make changes to future events.
age is not practical because of falsification. develope a biological “maturity index” to exclude children or change the events to favor mature competitors. otherwise, forget about any potential physical or mental harm and bring on the babies.
Weight classes is not really a viable option. We definitely don’t need any more psycho eating habits in this sport than we already have. And we want all the best gymnasts competing together — that’s the idea of the Olympics.