The Discussion: The great age debate

Sure, the code of points needs reform, but no subject has proved more controversial to gymnastics coaches, officials, fans and the FIG during the past decade and than the age limit, which stipulates that gymnasts must turn 16 during the same year as a World Championships or Olympic Games in order to compete in said event.

This issue doesn't disturb the men too much, since they become better gymnasts after puberty (though occasionally you get the precocious wunderkind à la Dmitry Bilozerchev or 2010 Ukrainian World team member Oleg Stepko.)

Although some contend that the age limit as-is has aided the achievements of women (as compared to adolescents) in women's gymnastics, Youtube reveals a heap of non-age-eligible youngsters doing amazing skills many wish they had the chance to show in a World or Olympic arena. There's also speculation that the policy has led teams to sneak not-old-enough gymnasts onto World and Olympic teams.

So the question remains -- The age limit: To get rid of it or not? Gymnastics bloggers from around the world tossed the topic around. Here's what they had to say:

Kristal Sergent Boulden (Double Front): Age falsification has been a problem in gymnastics for decades. And it's still a problem today. Time and again the FIG has demonstrated that it cannot enforce its own age restrictions. The FIG should seriously reconsider removing the age limits or returning the minimum to 15 years old within the calendar year. The current age limit of 16 in the calendar year excludes worthy athletes from competing at the highest levels and encourages cheating. Some of the greatest gymnasts have been 14- and 15-year-old athletes. Lowering the age minimum could discourage cheating and enable more gifted, young athletes to participate in the sport's greatest events.

Clara (STOI!): I think we're stuck with it. There are two reasons for this -- the child prodigy and the casual viewer. There are a few female gymnasts who've been doing incredibly high level stuff when very young, like 10-13. Examples include but are not limited to Kim Gwang Suk, Daniela Silivas, Gina Gogean, Li Ya, Annia Portuondo, Jordyn Wieber, Olga Bicherova and Yelena Shushunova.

There have been enough of them for us to be able to be pretty sure that without an age limit, a 12-year-old being a serious contender on the world stage would not be a rare thing. Sally Housecoat doesn't like this. It looks bad, especially interspersed with the once every few years exposes of abusive coaching methods. So although we all know that Jordyn Wieber wasn't training any harder in 2009 than she is in 2011, the powers that be have all got to keep pretending that the age limit somehow protects athletes, and that elite WAGs don't do 35+ hours a week until they turn 16. To do otherwise would be to expose the sport to a lot of criticism.

I think the current situation is stupid and the idea of increasing the age limit even more so. Although I will say that the sport absolutely benefits from the presence of older WAGs staying at the top, and sometimes not even getting there until their 20s e.g. Ariella Kaeslin. Indeed, I've blogged about this before. The vault final in Berlin was the first time in forever that the top three were all 20+. If it were up to me, 14 would be fine. Whether any of us like it or not, a 12-year-old world champion (acknowledged 12-year-old, that is) would be horrendous PR for the sport, so we can't really have a situation where that's possible. And it would happen at some point. Fourteen is an acceptable compromise.

Vanessa Steck (Wild/Precious): I think it's absurd. Now let me clarify: I think protecting the gymnasts is a bloody fantastic idea. I just don't think the age limit is the way to do it. Clearly, no matter what the age limit is, young gymnasts are going to be throwing insane skills and possibly overtraining. So while protecting young gymnasts (who I don't think are always old enough to make their own decisions: see my essay here) is certainly a laudable goal, the age limit has not proven to be a successful way to do so.

Brigid McCarthy (The Couch Gymnast): I used to be completely against it. That is mostly attributed to not being entirely sure if elite gymnastics training in all nations is done with the free will of the gymnasts involved. Now, that still worries me, but I think the age limit is hurting many gymnasts.

I just wrote on TCG that I think that there should, if there can’t be a change to the age limit, at least a junior World and Euro Championships in EVERY championships. Then at least we would see some of these gymnasts who don’t make it to senior ranks and they will get a chance to compete while they are still in form and making it to the right age won’t be the be-all and end-all of their career.

But seriously, if they are going to do away with the age limit of 16, they need to do away with it altogether or else there will be someone complaining “so-and-so is the best in the world but can’t go to worlds because she is 13!”

Jen (Full In Full Out): I understand the argument for it, but I personally am opposed to it. I would definitely get rid of it if I had the power. I'm not blind -- I know that there are some nasty training practices out there that push kids at very young ages and the results can be ugly. There is no perfect solution. I think we should let these kids have their careers when they're ready to do so. That said -- I also love and respect the hell out of the “older” athletes who are saying, “Screw it!” and still winning titles and medals, or at least continuing to improve their skills. I'm in awe of them.

Rick McCharles (Gymnastics Coaching): Since there is no way to medically confirm chronological age, I'm against any minimum age rule for the Olympics.

If there were a way to confirm age, I'd still be against any minimum age requirement (though not quite so strongly). I'm not convinced the current rule has done much to protect younger children from over training. Younger athletes are often actually safer doing high difficulty routines than they are when old.

Bronwyn Sanders (STOI!): As long as they’re not faking passports, I can’t see why the younger gals can’t compete with the ladies.

As Tim Daggett said in Rotterdam, “The best gymnast in the world isn’t here, because she’s too young.” He was, of course, referring to Viktoria Komova. She would have been a bigger threat to Aliya Mustafina than anyone, including Rebecca Bross. Same if Jordyn Wieber could have competed. The all-around field was depleted because the very best gymnasts were too young.

In Mustafina’s absence, Russia would benefit greatly from the additions of Anastasia Grishina and Anastasia Sidorova on this years Worlds team; and Grishina would surely be the second all-arounder. But again, they’re too young.

Spectators at major competitions will miss exciting gymnasts like Katelyn Ohashi and Marakami Mai for the same reason. I understand the age limit rule to a certain extent, but not enough to completely embrace it.

Ron Noe (Stick It Media): It is largely a bad thing, primarily because certain countries tend to skirt the rules due to nature of their authoritarian-style governments. Personally, I think international women's artistic gymnastics and figure skating have the market cornered on the "birther" issue! I also think it's unfair to those just under the age limit during an Olympic year. The window of opportunity for women is very narrow, and the age limit makes it even narrower. If a 13-14-year-old is good enough to contend for an Olympic medal, then she should be allowed to compete.

Katie (Full Twist): I don't fully agree with it, basically because countries such as China have broken the rules on occasion to allow their better and younger gymnasts compete. If a 14-year-old is good enough to beat an 18-year-old, then let her compete. On the other hand, something like a Junior Worlds could be quite good if the age limit is to be kept the same.

Anne Phillips (Gymnastike): I go back and forth on this one. It's hard to see athletes like Katelyn Ohashi and Lexie Preissman (who misses eligibility for the 2012 Olympics by only 23 days!) miss the opportunity if they are at their peak at the time of the competition. But, I like the recent trend of older gymnasts sticking around/making comebacks to try for multiple Olympic Games and I think we would see less of that if the current juniors were in the mix. Well, that was not a definitive answer! Luckily I am not the one in charge of making this decision for the world.

Beatrice Gheorghisor (Gymnastics No Ceiling): I think that there has to be an age limit and I do believe that this is a way of increasing the duration of the gymnasts' careers. But a 16 is a bit too much. I would make it 15.

Romila Storjohann (GymNiceTic): To be honest: I don't know if I would get rid of it if I could. Which doesn't mean that I would like to keep it. If there were no age limit, I wouldn't know if I should establish it. There are reasons to keep it (protection of the young gymnasts, not only of their health, but also of their personality...) and reasons to get rid of it (reason of protection doesn't count / cheating...). In the end, I just would love to see Ohashi, Wieber, Bross, Komova, Grishina, Murakami etc. all in one Worlds competition. Then we would actually know who is the best gymnast in the big, wide World and not only the best gymnast in a "World 16+".

Blythe Lawrence (Gymnastics Examiner): This is an indirect way to answer the question, but you could almost plot the rise of artistry and the decline of acrobatic acumen as a function of age on a graph. I watched a wonderful floor exercise recently by the great Isabelle Severino of France (who competed seriously until she was in her late 20s) from this year (she was performing to help her club out) and thought that in terms of performance quality, nothing I've seen in recent years reminded me so much of the Soviets of old, never mind that they themselves were all no older than 20 tops.

Thirteen-year-olds, despite their incredible skills, generally do not have a mature sense of artistry (even the naturally artistic ones! Nastia Liukin was great at 14, but better at 18; I'm betting Katelyn Ohashi will be the same way).

I'd be willing to give a little bit of acrobatic prowess in order to watch fully artistic routines that also have great amounts of difficulty and daring. Those routines generally come from older gymnasts, and they should be rewarded and encouraged and not be made to feel that they have an expiration date.

That being said, agreed with people who say bring the age limit back to 15 instead of 16. That seems like a fair compromise.

Your take: What's your take on the age limit in gymnastics? Should it be done away with, or is it good for the sport? Join The Discussion and leave a comment below!

Enjoying The Discussion? Here's a list of recent topics addressed by bloggers from around the world.

Follow The Gymnastics Examiner on Facebook or Twitter, or click the "Subscribe" button above to receive the latest gymnastics news and results via e-mail.