Problems With Olympic Age Requiremnts

The current requirement that a gymnast must turn 16 in the Olympic year to compete is sooooo unfair. The harsh truth is that the group of 12-15 year old female gymnasts are the best in the world. Those gymnasts who happen to turn 16 in an Olympic year have a huge advantage, while other gymnasts who were born just a year too late are forced to wait until they are 19 years old for a chance to compete.

An example is Nastia Liukin. Her skills were already on par with the Olympic level athletes by the time she was 14, but she was forced to put her body through four extra years of pounding and injuries and was first eligible to compete at age 18. While she was fortunate to win the all-around gold medal, her triumph over all the other gymnasts showed that the entire field was at a somewhat lower level than if younger girls were allowed to compete. Nastia actually did harder skills in 2005 than when she won the Olympics in 2008.

Nastia's beam in 2005:

Note the bhs layout layout, and TRIPLE TWISTING dismount.


Nastia's beam in 2008:

Also consider the case of He Kexin. She was clearly not age eligible for the 2008 Olympics but competed anyway, and took away the gold from Nastia on bars. I will not dispute the fact the He was the best in world on bars at that time, but so was Nastia when she was the same age. However, she waited until she was old enough to compete and therefore wasn't able to win bars. If some underage gymnasts are going to compete regardless and take away medals from gymnasts who are age eligible, then the age requirement means nothing and should be discarded.