> The age of the gymnasts is not an arbitrary rule that should
> be eliminated. My daughter was in gymnastics for a while.
> Training at Olympic level is very hard on growing bones and
> muscles, and it is easy for a youngster still growing to do
> permanent damage to his or her body. My other daughter was
> in age-group track and field and they were very careful
> about that, including having well-defined age levels and
> rules and standards for each.
> This has been a problem in the past in other school sports
> where the kids may have the power for the sport but have not
> yet reached their full growth.
> http://idiotgrrl.livejournal.com/
if that is the reason for creating the rule, perhaps it should be extended so
young children are not allowed to start training until their bodies have
matured, and the vault and beam competitions should be eliminated altogether,
for obvious reasons...
jon
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